


The Seething Remains

by Rosenth0rne



Category: Invader Zim
Genre: Agent Eldritch Horror, Gen, OC, Roan - Freeform, The Swollen Eyeball Network - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-18
Updated: 2020-07-05
Packaged: 2020-10-21 00:42:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 27,321
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20684660
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rosenth0rne/pseuds/Rosenth0rne
Summary: When a mysterious tape surfaces of what looks to be Zim escaping a government facility, Dib is given a second chance within the Swollen Eyeball Network to prove himself sane and not just a babbling, paranoid... person. He is put in touch with the agent who found the tape and the two start to concoct a plan to capture Zim with the intent of exposing him to the world. However, Dib may want to be cautious about who he places his trust in. Usually, when something is too good to be true, it is.Artwork by Siro-cyll





	1. Meeting

_To: Agent Mothman_

_From: Agent Darkbootie_

_Subject: Urgent: Respond ASAP._

_Despite your past transgressions with annoying the other agents about aliens, we at The Swollen Eyeball Network believe we found something that would interest you. Attached is video surveillance of what seems to be an alien lifeform escaping from a secret government facility. It was brought to our attention by our team who recovered it from a severely damaged surveillance system. We are willing to lift your ban from future endeavors in exchange for your insights on what this creature is and where it may be hiding. This mission is top secret and on a need-to-know basis. Do not give away any details to anyone not associated with this case. If you choose to accept this mission, respond as soon as possible and we will connect you to Agent Eldritch Horror. The fate of the world may lie in your hands._

_Sincerely,_

_Agent Darkbootie_

* * *

Not two seconds later, a response came through in the form of a very loud, very energetic video call.

“THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUI’LLTAKETHEMISSIONYOUWON’TREGRETITISWEARIWON’TLETYOUDOWNTHANKYOOOOOU!”

And then the video cut off. Silence. 

Dib sat in his chair, vibrating and nearly foaming at the mouth with excitement. Since hanging up the call, Dib’s eyes scanned the message over three dozen times before jumping onto the attached video. 

“Finally!” he grinned to himself. “A way to get back Agent Darkbootie’s respect!”

Upon opening the attachment, he found some very degraded, black and white footage of what looked like one of his father’s labs, only much more dated. Along the far wall stood a line of liquid-filled vats with various forms inside. A table in the middle of the room looked to have been recently used for some sort of dissection with strange-looking parts scattered about and was being cleaned by a couple of scientists in protective hazmat suits. 

Another scientist walked in with a large glass cylinder with a dark, sentient blob in it, smacking at the sides to try to get out. There was no sound, but he could tell the scientists were chatting and laughing while tapping at the glass. The one carrying the container shook it really hard before setting it on the table to watch how angry it got. Dib couldn’t help but feel some remorse for it despite not knowing what it was. Before they could open the cylinder, a light started flashing on screen. The scientists glanced among one another and as one of them walked off-screen. A few moments passed and the wall of vats suddenly exploded, sending glass and liquid everywhere. 

“Whoa!” Dib exclaimed, leaning into the monitor in excitement. His excitement soon turned to horror as a familiar, Zim-shaped figure stepped through the hole the explosion made. “No way!”

He was absolutely sure he was looking at Zim, despite the smoke billowing from the damaged machines blocking most of the Irken’s features. The feed started to glitch a bit as the scientists tried to contain Zim but ended up failing for some unseen reason. He didn’t even have to touch them and they fell to the floor, unconscious or worse. Dib’s mind raced. What did Zim use? A nerve gas? Some sort of hallucinogen that made the scientists pass out or have heart attacks?

Zim turned, blasted through another wall by extending his hand to it. The wall crumbled away to show what looked to be the outside of the building, and Zim rushed for it. Just before he made it through the hole in the wall, something jumped up and attached itself to Zim’s back and the Irken escaped. The video ended there.

Dib sat stunned at the footage. He was at a loss for words. After all this time of trying to get Zim on camera, there was already footage of him escaping a government facility. This must have happened when Zim had disappeared for days at a time and there was no telling where the facility was. The only way he could find out was through the one who found it. Agent Eldritch Horror.

When he pulled up the floating monitor, the dark silhouette of Agent Darkbootie appeared on the screen.

“Have you calmed down yet?”

Dib’s mouth dropped open to say something but it shut immediately as his face reddened from thinking back to his initial response.

“Yes,” he muttered but then cleared his throat. “I have looked over the footage and I think I can help. It definitely looks like the alien that I’ve been tracking.”

“I see. We’ll have to make sure we deal with this as soon as possible. Agent Eldritch Horror should already be in your area. Last I heard from her, she was at Hurt Park waiting for you.”

“She’s already here? What if I said no?”

“You wouldn’t have. Don’t keep Agent Eldritch Horror waiting. Look for a telescope.”

“I’ll head there now!” Dib jumped to his feet and started to gather his things into a briefcase.

“Keep us updated on your finds. We will be on standby.”

The screen shut off and lowered back to the floor near Dib’s desk. The boy quickly threw on his coat and bolted downstairs when he figured he had everything. Upon reaching the front door, a large hand took Dib’s shoulder from behind.

“Son, where are you going? Dinner is just about ready,” Professor Membrane’s deep voice rang out as the hand turned the boy to face him. His father’s imposing figure stood before him in his usual attire made up of a long lab coat that covered his face up to his goggles and heavy black and white boots. 

“I have to go meet an agent from my secret paranormal society for a mission about Zim!” Dib tried to explain as he opened the door. “I’ll be back soon! Just wrap up my plate and-”

Membrane’s hand pressed against the door, closing it.

“You can play with your little friends and your parascience later.”

“No, you don’t understand! This is my chance to get my ban lifted in the organization! I have to go meet Agent Eldritch Horror!” Dib pleaded. “If I help with this mission, they’ll let me go to meetings and present my findings again!”

“I’m sorry, Dib, but it is a school night. I’m sure your little club can wait,” Professor Membrane crossed his arms. Dib gave an irritated sigh before turning his face up to his father.

“Okay, but remember, you asked for this, Dad,” Dib inhaled then gave the man the most sickeningly cute pout he could muster, the largest sparkling doe-eyes and all. Professor Membrane jumped back in shock.

“NO! Not the look! Son! How could you!?” he gasped dramatically. “You haven’t done that since you were six!”

“You made me do dis, Daddy,” Dib sniffed, bringing his hands together and up to his cheek to only complete the ‘cute’ look. “Pweeeease can I go? I’ll be wight back!”

“Must not… give in…! Cuteness… too much! Heart… swelling!” Professor Membrane bent forward and gripped his head only to drop his arms to his side in defeat. “Okay, okay… Just be back before ten.”

“Yes! Thanks, Dad!” Dib hugged his father’s legs before bolting out the door. He grinned ear from ear at the fact that the look actually worked. He had witnessed Gaz do it to Clembrane over a video game she wanted and he wouldn’t budge on. The moment she whipped out the puppy dog eyes, he relented. Seemed like it worked on the actual man too. After that experiment, he wondered how much of Membrane was given to Clembrane during the cloning process. He often wondered why they didn’t try that before Clembrane came into the picture.

It took Dib less than ten minutes to get to Hurt Park, albeit, he was a bit winded once he got there. The excitement of meeting another agent from the Swollen Eyeball Network face-to-face was overwhelming.

“Look for the… telescope…” he panted heavily. Being twilight, there weren’t that many people out. A couple of joggers here and there, a family packing up to leave after a picnic, and a couple of UFO fanatics wandering about after what looked to be a convention of some kind. Dib gripped his side from a stitch he got from running and wandered further into the park, muttering ‘telescope’ under his breath over and over again. Movement in the distance out of the corner of his eye caught his attention. There, up on the highest hill of the park, was the outline of a figure bent over to use what looked like a large standing telescope against the darkening sky. Dib’s heart leaped out of sheer excitement and, despite the pain in his side, he ran up the hill. At the top, the boy fell to his hands and knees, out of breath. “Agent… Eldritch… Horror…?” 

“Eldritch is fine,” a woman’s voice answered in a deadpan tone. Dib glanced up as the dark figure with red eyes stand straight then step around the scope to reveal a tall, pale woman with long dark brown hair pulled back in a low ponytail wearing a half-sleeved dark red turtleneck shirt, black pants, and a pair of black knee-high boots. She leaned against the telescope with her eyes on him. “Agent Mothman. Took you long enough. That email was sent out several hours ago. Were you fanboying over it for that long?”

“No…! I… was just…” Dib’s eyes searched his surroundings as he thought of something to say. He then pushed himself to his feet and shook his head. “Nevermind. That video…! I think… I know-!”

“Easy, kid. You’re going to kill yourself if you keep going on like that. Just sit there and calm down,” she jerked her head towards a blanket that was laid out on the ground with a small cooler, a telescope case, and a black backpack next to it. “There’s soda in the cooler.”

Dib nodded and did as he was told. After downing a soda or two, Dib wiped his mouth and exhaled as the woman known as Eldritch went back to look through the telescope.

“So-” he started but the woman cut him off by lashing out toward him with her fist balled and her forefinger extended toward the sky. This caused Dib to jump and hug his briefcase.

“Only ask questions that matter for right now. I imagine you are on a curfew since it is a weekday night and have to be home at a certain time,” she turned her head slightly to look at him.

“Well, yes but how did you-?”

“You’re not the only junior member of the Swollen Eyeball Network. The senior members prefer to meet with junior members on weekends during the school year but this was important,” Eldritch explained. “Choose your questions carefully. We can’t be here all night.”

“Okay… How did you find that tape?”

“T.S.E.N. got word of a government facility that had been abandoned somewhere up in the frigid north. Agent Nessie, Agent Disembodied Head, and I went to check out to see if the tip was legit and found that the building had been absolutely gutted by the elements and… something else.”

“Something else? Like that alien?”

“Looks like it with what the video showed. The place seemed to be a secret military base, akin to Area 51. It looked like some really screwed up experiments happened there and they weren’t only on extraterrestrials.”

Dib’s face fell hard and a dark chill went up his spine.

“You mean like… human experiments?”

The woman only side-eyed him.

“Not important for our case. Other groups are looking into that. Next question.”

“Oh, uh, yeah. Um…” Dib wracked his brain. On the way over, he had a million questions to ask but not one was coming to him now. He then paused and gave her a serious look. “Wait, before we go any further, why me? The rest of the agents think I’m crazy. Didn’t they warn you about me?”

“When I asked for you, yes, they did. Many of them cringed at the mention of your name but I’ve read your submissions and believe you would be the right partner for this mission,” Eldritch stood straight before moving onto the blanket and sitting across from him. She reached over to pick up a thermos, unscrewed the cap, then poured a light brown liquid into it. “This isn’t something I think the other agents could handle.”

Dib watched her in awe. Actually, he looked like he was about to cry.

“You… asked for me? S-So you actually believe me? You actually believe it is a real alien?”

“It’s very convincing and what’s on the tape matches what you have in your reports. It’s pretty hard to ignore the similarities.” 

The boy jumped to his feet in joy, punching the air.

“Yes! Finally! A real paranormal investigator believes me! No one ever believes me- er, or if they do, something always happens! Either they turn out to be a complete loon or get taken away by aliens or turns out to be an alien trying to outdo Zim to take over the world-!” Dib ranted then gasped, turning to the woman with wide, panicked eyes. “Please don’t do any of that!” 

Eldritch stared at Dib with a blank expression before letting out an amused chortle.

“Wow, you’ve been through a lot, haven’t you? What do you mean by a ‘real paranormal investigator’?” Eldritch raised a brow. 

“Oh, it’s just that Bill guy that shows up on ‘Mysterious Mysteries’ from time to time. He came to my school and I had to go with him when I got ‘Paranormal Investigator for my career day test. If it weren’t for him, I would have been able to expose Zim with that Galactic Equinox when he went through that hideous molt.”

“I remember that. It was a pretty big deal,” Eldritch sighed then shook her head as she pulled out her phone, typed something in and turned it to Dib to show the TruthShrieker forum page with Bill posting ramblings and someone named ‘SpaceQuesadilla’ debunking everything he said mockingly. “And I know who you’re talking about. I’m Billy’s number one heckler on TruthShrieker. I wouldn’t normally stoop as low, but he’s essentially making a mockery of paranormal science.”

“That’s what I’ve been saying!” Dib threw his arms out. “I mean, I can’t believe they’d put him on TV with some of the most ridiculous-!”

Eldritch flicked to the next screen on her phone to show him the time and tapped the side of the phone to remind him they only had a short time to talk. It was already eight o’clock.

“Oh! Yes! Right, right! Let’s see…” Dib looked around then glanced at his briefcase which he kneeled down to open. “Here, take a look at this! I brought everything I could carry on Zim! The rest is on my hard drive at home.”

The two hours flew by as Dib showed Eldritch all of his proof on Zim. Her positive reactions and theories that aligned with what Dib knew made him absolutely giddy. 

“I don’t understand why no one else realizes he’s an alien!” Dib ranted and paced across the blanket with one hand behind his back and the other on his chin. 

“Don’t take it personally, Mothman,” Eldritch glanced up at him from a thousand-page report the boy had handed her. “In a way, it’s their minds protecting them from the truth. Ignorance is bliss, after all.”

“But that’s so irritating!”

“It is, but some can’t handle it and exposing it to the wrong people can make things worse,” she shrugged. “The trick is trying to find the right people to bring this up to.”

“I’ve been trying to bring it up to The Swollen Eyeball Network but even then…”

“You need the right evidence or they’re going to blow you off. Other agents have a hard time even with convincing evidence.”

“But I-” Dib sighed.

“You have a garage full that would be scrutinized to no end and it probably doesn’t help that your father doesn’t seem to support your claims.”

Dib dropped his arms to his side as he stared at the woman whose eyes didn’t leave the page she was reading.

“How did you-?”

“I research all of my partners. You’ve got an entire rant on TruthShrieker that gave away a lot of information about you. Even if I hadn’t looked into you, you’ve already been shown off to the public by your father who’s a concrete skeptic.”

“Oh…” Dib rubbed his arm some. “Yeah…”

“Well, I think we have enough here to push on with the mission,” Eldritch closed the packet then stood and moved to pack up her telescope. 

“So what is this mission going to be? Reconnaissance?”

“For now. We just need to find out the alien’s plans for tomorrow evening and we can move forward with capturing.”

“I can attach a recording device under Zim’s desk tomorrow and retrieve it when the day is up! He’s constantly talking about plans under his breath during school in front of everyone. I think he’s talking to his robot through a radio of some sort.”

“Good. I’ll swing by your place and pick you up after school so we can analyze the recordings, see what we can glean from them. I want this thing captured by the end of the week tops,” Eldritch side-glanced Dib who saluted.

“Understood!”

“Stellar. Now, let’s get you home before any grounding puts a stake in our plans.”

“Oh, yeah, Dad would totally ground me if I missed curfew-” With a glance at his watch, Dib nearly had a heart attack. Ten minutes before ten o'clock. “ Oh no! I’m not going to make it! I was running on sheer excitement when I was coming here!”

“I’ll take you home. It’ll take no time at all. Grab the blanket and cooler and follow me,” Eldritch nodded to the cooler as she pulled out a black trench coat with a tattered tail from the telescope case and slipped it on. Dib did as he was asked and quickly gathered the items then followed the woman down the hill, the torn-up coat tail now sweeping behind her ominously. 

“I guess trench coats seem to be the chosen attire of most paranormal investigators, huh?” he grinned up at her.

“Probably. I just wear it cuz it looks cool and mysterious,” she smirked back at him.

“I know, right?!”

Eldritch led the boy to a sleek black sports car and began to load the case, blanket, and cooler into the back of it. Dib couldn’t help but bounce on his heels as he waited and thought back to everything that had happened. Finally, things were going to come together to expose Zim once and for all. 

Once the car was packed and Dib gave her directions to his house, Dib jumped into the passenger seat. Inside, he found celestial decorations scattered throughout the interior. The seats and dashboard were covered with white constellations against a dark blue background and above him, on the underside of the roof, was a blanket of working lights imitating the night sky. A telescope decoration hung from the rearview mirror.

“You… really like stars, huh?” he commented when Eldritch climbed in.

“I wouldn’t be an astronomer if I didn’t have a love of space,” she chuckled as she started up the car. Dib’s mouth fell open as a fire erupted from behind the car. “You might want to buckle up.”

“You’re an astronomer too?!”

“Yep.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?!”

“I feel we would have gotten a bit off-topic if I had said something.”

Without warning, the car took off and Dib felt himself become welded to the seat as it did a drifting U-turn and sped down the street.


	2. Predicament

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With someone credible on his side, Dib moves forward with the mission at hand. Though after a conversation about his father with his new ally, Dib is left with a lot of thinking to do once everything is said and done.
> 
> [Artwork by Siro-cyll](http://siro-cyll.tumblr.com)

Dib had thought long and hard about how to attach the recorder to Zim’s desk without it being snatched the moment it was placed by Ms. Bitters. He had been sent to detention more times than he was willing to admit for tampering with the desks so he had to attach the device long before anyone got to school. Dib figured that’s how Zim got around it all by attaching that baloney tack to Dib’s seat some time back. 

Getting into the school before hours was easy. He just had to use his stealth suit to follow one of the janitors in. Getting into the old crone’s classroom, however, was a different issue entirely. From what Dib remembered, the room was highly booby-trapped when not in use. Ms. Bitters had to disarm the room each morning and rearm it at the end of every school day. This was suspicious and Dib was curious about what the woman had to hide, but he could worry about that another time. His focus should be on what he had to face going into the classroom.

The door was nothing special. It was like every other door in the school. He was able to pick the lock easily, not with a lock pick set that he forgot at home, but with the end of his hair scythe. One could almost hear an audible squeaky toy noise as he stood proudly at his work when the door finally swung open. 

He knew better than to enter immediately and lowered a pair of goggles over his face to reveal any hidden traps that may have not been picked up by the untrained eye. One glance inside made him realize that every tile on the floor had what looked to be a thin wire outlining each tile. The thin wires gleamed menacingly with the early morning light that seeped through the windows.

“Hmmm... Might need to go through the ceiling…” he muttered aloud. He turned his attention upward to find alarm lasers crisscrossing over the entire room. However, he noticed a small, child-sized gap just above Zim’s desk, as well as a conveniently placed air vent directly over it. Perfect.

It took Dib no time to find an exterior entrance to the vent and, once over Zim’s desk, he pried open the vent and gauged how he would descend through the lasers. He hadn’t taken the size of his head into consideration but felt that he could still pull it off if he was extremely careful. 

Dib secured a line to the roof of the vent and slowly lowered himself through the stationary alarm lasers. His heart pounded against his chest as sweat began to form on his brow. One wrong move and he knew it was over. What was worse than detention if Ms. Bitters caught him? He honestly didn’t want to know. 

“It’s for the mission…” he kept telling himself under his breath. “For the good of humanity.”

By some miracle, Dib was able to fit his large head into a very tight space created by the lasers and was able to descend further. Just as he readied himself to plant the device, he heard Ms. Bitters’ voice echoing from down the hall. She sounded angry as if she was scolding one of the janitors for god knows what. As much as his body wanted to spaz in terror, he did his best to stay calm. He had to focus and work quickly. 

He slapped the device onto the bottom of Zim’s desk but in his haste to ascend, the pulley he was using jammed.

“No!” he gasped. “No! No! No! Not now! Not like this!”

The sound of Ms. Bitters’ heeled shoes echoed off the walls of the empty school. Without bodies to absorb it, it sounded much more sinister than normal. Dib forced himself to physically climb up the cord as fast as he could, trying his damnedest not to trigger the same lasers that he had precariously avoided seconds before. The moment he knew he was clear, he scrambled up into the vent and replaced the grate just as a familiar form stepped into view of the door.

“What’s this?” Ms. Bitters’ gruff voice hissed. Dib froze. He forgot to shut the door before heading up to the vent. A sharp hand reached out to grab the knob hard enough to break it off. “Someone has broken in?”

He had never known such fear in his entire life. Dib was holding onto everything to keep himself together. A deep growl shook him to his very core. He shut his eyes tightly. Despite being hidden away, he felt very exposed like she knew he was there. It was only a matter of time before her hand reached up through the grate to drag him down, down into whatever nightmarish punishment she had awaiting him.

“Which one of you wastes of flesh did it?! I told you not to touch any of the bins in this room!”

Dib’s eyes popped open in surprise. The form withdrew from the doorway and the echoing footsteps almost disappeared quickly down the hall. Dib didn’t waste any time. Once he knew the crone was gone, he scrambled back to the entrance and straight for the boy’s bathroom. 

He felt a tinge of guilt for the janitors but it was better them than him. He had a mission to complete. 

Dib quickly changed out of his stealth suit and into his normal school clothes, stashing the suit in a backpack which he shoved behind one of the toilets to retrieve later. While he was there, he remembered that Zim had a habit of ‘going to the bathroom’ an awful lot. Thankfully, Dib had brought backups with him and he placed a recording device under the bottom of each toilet tank in the event that Zim decided to do any plotting in either of the stalls. After making sure everything was hidden, he turned his attention to his wristwatch and pressed a button below a small screen. Seconds later, a pitch-black figure with red eyes appeared against a dark gray background. 

“Agent Eldritch Horror here.”

“Eldritch! I did it! I planted the devices!”

“Good work, Agent Mothman. We do not want to take any chances. Try to coax him into talking about his plans. Even if he doesn’t spill, it might cause him to talk to that little robot thing you told me about behind your back.”

“I already put some of the devices in the bathroom just in case. I’ll-”

A distant scream interrupted Dib and chills ran up his spine.

“What was that?” Eldritch raised a brow.

“I may have just killed a man,” Dib muttered softly, staring off at the wall on the other side of the bathroom but then shook his head with a grin. “Anywho, I’ll try to talk to him during class.”

“Sacrifices must be made for the good of the planet. I’m sure he was a valiant human,” Eldritch answered nonchalauntly while flicking a hand. “I’ll meet you outside of your place after school to go over the findings with you. If we’re lucky, we might be able to bag him tonight. Stay vigilant, Agent Mothman. The mission comes first.”

“Yes, sir- er, ma’am,” Dib saluted as the screen grew dark. He stood there a moment before bursting into a giddy giggle fit then rushing out to the playground to wait for school to start. 

The waiting was torture. Every time Dib looked at the clock, he found only a handful of minutes had passed when it felt like hours for him. It felt like a weight was taken off his shoulders when Zim finally showed up along with the other kids.

“Finally,” Dib grumbled under his breath as he pushed himself up off of the picnic table he was waiting on. Zim’s presence started a new game. Now, Dib had to play touch and go with how he handled probing Zim for information. If he pressed too little, Zim may not say anything about his plan. If he pressed too much, Zim might catch onto what he was doing and probe back. He couldn’t let either happen.

Once the Irken entered the classroom and took his seat inches away from the device, Dib decided to make his move. 

“So, Zim, any plans after school?” he walked up and leaned against the desk with a smirk that probably wasn’t the most genuine. This earned him an angry leer.

“What’s it to you, Dib-worm?” he growled under his breath then switched to a more pleasant demeanor while bringing his hands together on his desk. “I’m just going home to have a pleasant day being normal at home, oh, you know, walking my dog, renting groceries, vacuuming the lawn…”

Dib frowned and stood straight.

“You don’t _ rent _ groceries and you have to _ mow _ the lawn…”

Zim sat there a moment, staring blankly at the boy before jumping up suddenly.

“YOU’RE LYING!” he shrieked, causing Dib to step away with his hands up.

“Ooookay… Jeeze,” Dib muttered under his breath. Zim sat back down then raised a brow with a calm voice.

“Why do you want to know?” 

Dib’s face fell. He had an answer in case Zim had asked him but for the life of him, he couldn’t remember what it was. He had gotten so excited about confronting Zim, it must’ve slipped.

“Uh… uh…” Dib’s eyes darted around the room for a possible answer as he broke out into a sweat.

“Well?” Zim tilted his head and narrowed his eyes with his tone growing darker. “Why did you want to know, Dib-worm?”

A solar system poster on the far wall caught Dib’s attention.

“I… just want to know where you’ll be… when I head to the Observatory tonight to… expose your homeworld, Zim!” Dib suddenly blurted out in a complete bluff. It wasn’t what he and Eldritch had planned, but it could still prove useful if Zim fell for it. Zim tensed up and his eyes glazed over in thought.

“... Is the telescope at the Observatory that powerful?” he muttered under his breath. This reaction caused Dib to double down on his threat.

“Oh, it is! And the astronomer who works there believes me about you! I already showed her everything I have on you! She’ll help me expose you! Even without the coordinates to your homeworld, she’ll find it!”

Zim’s eye twitched slightly.

“You and this ‘astronomer’ can look all you want. You won’t find anything,” the Irken answered quietly. 

“Keep telling yourself that, Zim! This is the end of the line for you!” Dib smirked, leaning into Zim. “We’ll-!”

“Get to your seat, now Dib!” Ms. Bitters snarled as she swept into the room. The sudden appearance of the teacher made Dib dash for his seat, hoping she still believed that the janitor was the culprit of her class door being opened. When she started her announcements like she did every morning and she didn’t mention the door being found open, Dib began to relax. He dodged a bullet. For now.

For the rest of the class, Dib kept an eye on Zim. The alien did, in fact, start muttering into a device on his wrist which made Dib smile uncontrollably. He wasn’t sure how Eldritch would feel about the route he took but it was working. 

* * *

Once school was over with, Dib nonchalantly gathered his items. Ms. Bitters had her back turned as she wiped down the chalkboard when he swiped the device from under Zim’s desk. It was a lot less painful than when he had to place it. Thankfully, his stuff was still in the bathroom stalls too. Zim hadn’t gone to the bathroom at all that day so going through the recordings on the bathroom devices would prove useless. 

Zim had disappeared entirely after school, which meant Dib only had a short amount of time to get home, rendezvous with Eldritch, and get to the Observatory before Zim did. Unfortunately for him, he hit roadblocks on the way back home.

He was informed that the bus he normally took was involved with a massive pile-up on the highway when a Deelishus Weenie truck collided with a Krazy Taco truck. Taco dressings and weenies with their buns were scattered along several lanes of traffic during rush hour. That meant he was walking- er, running.

The next obstacle he ran into happened to be a strike of crossing guards who refused to do their jobs in letting the kids cross the street safely, let alone at all.

“Excuse me, I’ve got to get by! I’m going to be late-!” Dib forced his way through a crowd of kids who were watching the crossing guards form a picket line. One guard grabbed Dib as he passed and tossed him back into the crowd which pushed the boy back up onto his feet.

“Hey! No crossing the picket line!” the guard yelled. “We will not be ignored!”

“But I have to get home!” Dib pleaded. The crowd of children joined in behind him, each crying and yelling their own reasons for passing. The guards ignored the protests and began their own, pacing in a constant oblong circle. Both sides continued to yell out with various intentions, causing them to turn on one another. 

With tensions rising, Dib backed away into the crowd and headed down the street to avoid being grabbed again. He had a mission and he could not be deterred. He tried to cross the same street once again at a different point but another guard pointed him out, yelling incoherently. Before any of the guards could rush over to stop him, the crowd of children descended on the adults with reckless abandon. Bodies poured into the streets, causing many cars to skid to a halt or into one another to avoid hitting anything living. A large truck slammed into a nearby light post, causing it to fall directly into the crowd.

As much as Dib felt compelled to stay and watch the wreckage unfold, he pressed on. He was already running behind schedule. Anyone he passed on the street that acknowledged him was ignored. He babbled about his mission over and over again until he was at the end of his street. There, about midway down his street was the familiar sleek black sports car parked outside of his house. Eldritch was already waiting for him. With a grin, the Membrane boy continued to rush down the sidewalk toward the car, only to slow down at the sight of his father standing near the car with his arms crossed at the end of the pathway to his house. Eldritch was leaning back against the vehicle with her arms and legs crossed. The expression on her face was that of irritation as if the conversation wasn’t going well.

“Oh no…” Dib muttered under his breath and rushed forward. He didn’t know what was being said, but the last thing he wanted was his father driving Eldritch off. 

“I’m home! Sorry, I’m late!” he called out, causing the two to look up. “Dad, this is-!”

“Welcome home, son! I will be going inside now to do science stuff! Have fun!” Membrane’s voice boomed almost robotically. He then turned on his heel and walked briskly back to the house. Dib furrowed his brow at his father’s behavior but the sound of the car door opening turned his attention to Eldritch.

“Let’s go, Mothman. We’ve got work to do.”

“Oh! Uh, right!” Dib nodded and rushed to the passenger side of the car. After buckling up, he looked up at the woman. “Did Dad upset you? What did he say to you?”

“Hm?” Eldritch glanced down at him and shook her head with a chuckle. “No, no. It’s nothing. We just had a chat. I would imagine he wanted to know what a grown woman was doing, waiting for his son outside of his house.”

“Oh good, I thought he would have tried to talk you out of this mission,” Dib sighed in relief. 

“Are you kidding? This is a serious situation. It would take a lot more than that to deter me from this. You have the recording device, right?” 

Dib dug into his backpack and retrieved a small device with a nod.

“Stellar work. We’ll head to his base now in case he decides to move while we’re listening to it.”

“Wait! No! We have to go to the observatory!” Dib jumped up in his seat. “There’s a chance Zim might head there!”

The woman paused and narrowed her eyes suspiciously at him. “Why?”

Dib flinched.

“W-Well… I-I-”

“You opened your mouth about me, didn’t you?”

“No! Well… Not entirely…” Dib rubbed the back of his head with his eyes averted at first. When he locked eyes with her ‘Really?’ gaze, he shut them tightly. “Imayhavesaidsomethingaboutanastronomerandfindinghishomeplanetthroughthetelescopeattheobservatorydon’thurtme.”

Dib gave a guilty grin as the woman’s eye twitched slightly. With a deep sigh, she raised a fist, causing Dib to flinch hard, only to bop it lightly on boy’s head behind his scythe.

“Fine. To the observatory, then.”

The car took off just as violently as it did the night before but this time Dib was ready and braced himself. Eldritch drove like a madman but no matter how close she came to crashing into something, the car would barely brush the item. She drifted around each corner, only slowing down behind a bus as it was delivering kids home. 

“You know what would be funny,” Eldritch started suddenly with her eyes glued to the back of the cheddar yellow vehicle. Dib’s head perked up. “Not ‘haha’ funny, but strange, ironic funny.”

“What?”

“Have you ever thought about your father being an alien?”

Dib stared at her for any sign of jesting but her stare was consistent.

“What makes you say that?” 

The woman fell silent for a few moments before letting out a sigh.

“Your father started to show up at my observatory out of the blue a while ago, asking for me, or ‘Professor Elderidge’ specifically,” she explained. “He wouldn’t tell my assistants what he wanted, only that he needed to talk to me directly. Alone.”

“What?” Dib gasped then rolled his eyes up in thought. “But why would that make you think he was an alien? And your last name is ‘Elderidge’? That’s convenient.”

“Yes, it is. Minus the whole ‘has the world in the palm of his hand’ deal, he started showing up immediately after I recovered that tape and has been doing so like clockwork three times a week. Either I’d be told he himself stopped by or someone from his lab stopped by to invite me to his office. I started to wonder if he knew, like if he somehow had some tracker on the tape and wanted it back.”

“Did he ask about it when you talked to him?”

“No, it was brief and he just shot the breeze. Part of me wonders if he knows what ‘Professor Elderidge’ look like or if it was because we were out in public that he didn’t say anything incriminating,” Eldritch side-glanced the boy. “This is concerning because someone like your father shouldn’t know anything about me, name or otherwise. I tend to hand off my discoveries to my assistants to help them move up in the world so I am not renown for discoveries. I’m wondering if one of my past assistants may have leaked something to him or his labs.”

Dib dropped his gaze to the console. His father? An alien? That would mean he was right under his nose the entire time. He shook his head.

“No, there would have to be a logical explanation for this…” he muttered under his breath. “It could be just coincidental.”

“My thoughts too, but coupled with everything else, I couldn’t be sure. If I was right and went to talk to him alone like he wanted, I may have walked into a trap. I take it you wouldn’t know why he would be pursuing me like this otherwise, would you?”

Dib shook his head.

“Dad doesn’t talk about what he’s working on all that much. Not unless it’s going to be revealed in a huge way,” the boy groaned then raised a brow. “Everything else?”

“He’s the smartest man in the world. No one outside of his home has ever seen his face, but even so, I would imagine there’s technology to help cloak him. He’s world-renown and has essentially taken over the world with ideology and technology that seems otherworldly. Not even his competitors can do what he does,” she didn’t look at Dib but glanced around at the lawns and houses around them while waiting for the vehicle to move. “Yet, he continues to deny the presence of the paranormal despite it literally being everywhere.”

For a moment, Dib remained silent, the thought churning in his head before trying to shake it out.

“Nah, Dad couldn’t be an alien! He’s…” he laughed but paused at the fact he couldn’t really point anything out to disprove him being an alien. Dib knew what his father looked like under the coat but after having a run-in with Tak, he couldn’t be sure. The sheer idea that his father could have created the perfect disguise as an alien right under his nose started to make him sick to his stomach. 

“If he isn’t an alien, that man knows more than he lets on. He’s too smart to just up and ignore what’s put in front of him without acknowledging its existence,” Eldritch muttered.

Dib stared off at the glove compartment in front of him. Every tiny thing he noticed his father doing started to gear in the direction that Membrane was an alien or at least hiding something from him. He couldn’t tell if they were genuine situations or if he was being gaslighted to hide something bigger.

“Regardless. When you go home tonight, I want you to ask him what he wants with the observatory,” the woman glanced over at him. Dib nodded.

“Don’t worry. I will.”

Now he was curious, albeit feeling a bit betrayed despite not knowing if it was true or not. The more he thought about it, the more it started to make sense. Was his father really not of this world?


	3. The Chase

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A chase, the cops, and quite a serious accusation to boot. Dib has had a very long, very rough day. It was just 'one of those days'.
> 
> OH! And in this version, Dib's full first name is Dibson. Just throwing that out there in case anyone thought it was an error. Lord knows this chapter is full of them.
> 
> [Artwork by Siro-cyll](http://siro-cyll.tumblr.com)

_ Well, it finally happened. Dad passed away today. Looks like my days of globe-trotting for S.E.N. are over and I’ll be putting my Astronomy and Astrophysics degree to good use. The lawyers who contacted me wanted me to sit during the reading of the will but I already know what I’m facing. Dad had already put his foot down that I will be taking over the observatory. He was adamant about it. It was to fall into no one else’s possession and it was to stay in the family. I had already made it clear that I was not having kids so there was very little chance that it would go to anyone after me. Ugh, maybe I’ll adopt or something to make him not come back and haunt me. _

_ My only comfort about this is Agent Nessie and Agent Darkbootie reside in the city near the observatory. I have always felt weird in the city, like something supernatural is always happening in your peripherals but by the time you look, it’s gone. Thankfully where the observatory is, I don’t feel that. I’ve always adored the view from the promenade walkway. Despite how strange the city is, it is absolutely beautiful lit up at night. _

_ \----------------------- _

“Gir! Listen closely. We may have an issue on our hands.”

“Can we get tacos?”

“Maybe later but LISTEN first. The Dib-worm has revealed that he will be at the observatory tonight to obtain the aid of an astronomer to locate our homeworld. Do you know what that means?”

“Nuh-uh.”   
“It means he has someone the world may listen to on his side and it could ruin our mission, Gir!” 

“Ooooooh.”

“We’re going to need to head for the observatory before Dib gets there first. We’ll lay a trap for the two and dispose of them both. It’s about time I destroy that boy for his meddling and one less ‘intelligent’ being on this stupid ball of dirt will keep the masses unaware. But what to use…”

“Dib’s daddy reeeeeeeal smart. And he’s got a ton of toys! I like toys! Especially the ones that go all explody!”

“Silence! I must come up with a plan before the end of the school day. Stay alert Gir! I’ll need you to take notes of everything I might need.”

The fact that his father was mentioned didn’t make Dib feel any better about the idea that Professor Membrane could possibly be an alien. Zim’s voice continued on, but a lot of what he said was almost complete nonsense. Items he asked for had to be of alien origin since no such things existed on earth. Except the gerbil. Dib had no idea what Zim could possibly use a gerbil for in his plan to destroy the two. Then there was that. While he was used to Zim’s threats, he wasn’t sure how Eldritch would take it.

Dib glanced up at the woman whose eyes were locked on the recording device with a thoughtful expression. She didn’t seem the least bit bothered about what was being said.

“So… What’s the plan?”

“Hm. Not sure. I didn’t intend to come back here so soon without a trap set,” she muttered, then looked out through the windshield at the large, white building in front of them. “There’s a chance he’s already here. Let’s go. If he is here, my assistants may be in danger.”

Dib nodded and quickly undid his seat belt to exit the car. They had already made it to the observatory right around twilight but decided to review the recording before entering to see what they could be up against. Stepping out of the car, Dib scanned the area carefully for any outer sign of Zim being there. 

The Elderidge Observatory stood on a cliff edge overlooking the city with various observation terraces connected by a promenade walkway that connected them along the back of the building. A stretch of land made up its front lawn with sunbleached sidewalks decorated with interesting facts and the rotation of the planets embedded with gold in the cement. A silver sundial in the center of the lawn introduced a large white stone monument with famous astronomers carved into its sides and a bronze armillary sphere at the top. The sidewalk continued straight to a pair of bronze doors that dwarfed any human. It contrasted greatly against the alabaster walls. On the east and west wings of the building were two smaller copper domes that housed various science exhibits as well as two solar telescopes. A massive dome that was located on the south side of the building, closest to the city, peeked over the front door and housed the planetarium as well as a super telescope with the ability to see into deep space. 

Despite the situation at hand, Dib couldn’t help but feel a heavy sense of nostalgia. He used to visit the observatory a lot with his father and sister when he was much, much younger. When it was his year to choose what to do for family night, he chose to get fast food and have a picnic on the grounds. They would then wander the observatory and look through the telescopes, something he was obsessed with to the point that Professor Membrane had one built just for him at home. While he loved that scope, it wasn’t the same as visiting the actual facility.

What most people didn’t know that Dib did due to his obsessive compulsiveness was there was a secret underground level to this place. During one of the visits, he had snuck off to see a new exhibit that hadn’t been revealed yet, only to stumble upon a stairwell that led down into a basement area. Unfortunately, he was caught before he could find out what was down there. 

As Dib scanned the area, he froze at the sight of a familiar location. Not far from the observatory was Mystical Hill where Dib had taken his sister to meet the Shadow Hog. The memory of the whole endeavor as he gazed in the direction of the hill made the boy shudder heavily. 

“So… much… filth…” he grumbled.

“What?” Eldritch glanced over the car hood at him looking concerned.

“Nothing! Uh, let’s get inside!”

While walking the grounds, Dib took in the area, remembering every picnic he had on the grounds.

“How long have you been working here?” he glanced up at Eldritch as they passed the monument. “I don’t remember you being here when I was little…”

“Strange. I’ve owned the observatory for… quite some time actually. I’m sure I would have remembered someone like you if we had met.”

Dib slowed down to the point that the woman had to stop and look back at him. 

“You own the observatory?”

“Mhm. It was left to me by my father. I’m ‘Professor Elderidge’, remember?”

“Oh yeah…. You mean… he died?”

“Yes,” Eldritch answered shortly then turned to continue toward the doors. 

“O-Oh,” Dib furrowed his brow as he thought about it. “How long have you had it?”

“I have lost count.”

As they entered the large white building, a young man with pale skin and short brown hair rushed up in a white coat over a pink shirt and jeans. In his arms were a small stack of papers from where he pulled a page from.

“Professor Elderidge! I wanted to let you know that Professor Membrane came by again-” he looked at a page then handed it to the woman.

“Did he say what he wanted this time?”

The man frowned and shook his head.

“Same as before. He just stated he needed to speak with you as soon as you were available.”

“I see. Thank you, Tanner.”

Craning his neck, Dib could see a familiar header at the top of the page. ‘Membrane Labs’ was typed in dark blue blocky letters. Under it was his father’s handwriting as well as a phone number.

“Tanner,” Eldritch started again. “Has anyone else visited the observatory?”

“Not that I know of. It’s been dead for most of the day. We had canceled the lectures and tours like you asked so there weren’t many visitors,” Tanner rolled his eyes up. “Why?”

“No reason. You can take the rest of the night off. I have another private tutoring session and I’d rather not be disturbed,” she motioned down to Dib.

“Of course, Professor.”

Without another word, the woman ushered Dib down the long hall into an auditorium known for spectacular light shows and lectures. Dib glanced around at the dark, empty room for any signs of anything suspicious or unusual. Nothing seemed out of place.

Nostalgia hit him once more. He could almost see himself with his father sitting in the upper balcony of the auditorium as a lecture was going on, watching the walls and ceiling going dark for the stars and planets to dance around them, despite half of the wall being a built-in screen to watch various movies about Astronomy. He couldn’t help wonder what the lectures looked like now that technology has pushed forward since he was very little.

“Are you the one who does the lectures?” Dib asked, eyes scanning the seats. When the room passed inspection with no Zim in sight, Eldritch sat down in one of the seats.

“Sometimes. Mainly on the weekday evenings. I have my assistants do the rest.”

“Huh. I’m surprised Dad hadn’t just come to see you during those times,” Dib wandered up to the seat next to her. The woman gave a laugh.

“Oh, I scheduled them around the time he had to be on stage for his TV show when he started showing up.”

Dib raised a brow.

“How did you know what time he’d be on stage?”

“By paying attention to the audience tryout schedules posted on the show’s website. They always have audience tryouts before each segment. It’s pretty straight forward.”

“Oh, yeah,” Dib murmured then glanced around. He kicked his legs some as he looked around more. He was half expecting Zim to be there already. It wouldn’t have been this quiet if Zim had been present. That meant he still had the element of surprise and could get the drop on the alien before he ever knew what hit him. Eldritch raised a brow as she watched him start bouncing and vibrating in the seat from excitement.

“Are you okay?” 

“I’m just… I can’t believe... “ Dib squealed, trying to form words but half of what came out was just gibberish. “Then you! Finding the tape! Ahhhhhhh!”

“What?”

The boy paused to take a breath.

“Sorry, I have a lot of pent up excitement,” he grinned then frowned. “Shouldn’t we be guarding the super telescope?”

“Who says we aren’t?” Eldritch’s foot tapped the floor, causing Dib to look down. “The super telescope is usually hidden away underground when it’s not on display. The floor opens up and the telescope’s platform rises in order for us to access it. It’s only brought out on occasions.”

“Underground? So that’s where the basement floor leads to?”

“... yes, among other things.”

“Other things?”

“My apartment is downstairs as well as the storage area for other exhibits.”

Dib turned his attention back to the woman.

“You live here?”

Before the woman could answer, a loud crash against metal made the two jump and look up at the ceiling. A large dent could be made out in the copper dome.

“Great, now the whole city knows we’re here! Good job, Gir!” a familiar voice rang out above them.

“Awww, thank you!”

“That wasn’t a compliment!”

“Well, that didn’t take long,” Eldritch sighed as she pushed herself up and shoved her hands into her pockets.

“Zim!” Dib jumped up onto the back of the auditorium chair with his fists clenched tightly only to fall backward off of it into the chair behind it. Eldritch shook her head and moved to the center of the room. Dib scrambled to his feet to follow. “Hold on! I’m coming!”

Just as Dib made it to her side, she kneeled down to look him in the eyes.

“Listen to me and listen carefully,” she started in a serious tone. “If for any reason, we split up and lose each other, I don’t want you looking for me or try to continue on your own.”   
“What? But-”

“No buts. I may become hyper-focused on him and forget you’re there. You could get hurt. If we get separated, I want you to go back home and wait for me. I will contact you whether or not our mission was successful. I don’t expect us to get this right the first time and he may get away since we technically do not have a trap in place. Understand?”

“But- I-” Dib tried to argue but let out a sigh. “Okay…”

“We’ll regroup at your place if this goes awry.”

The boy just nodded then turned his attention to the copper dome above them as small footsteps walked across it to the back of the room, heading for the promenade walkway. A hushed voice followed.

“We have to dismantle that telescope, Gir. And keep an eye out. Dib-worm and that astronomer are supposed to be here somewhere.”

“Yes, sir!” the higher-pitched voice boomed loud enough to echo the empty halls of the building.

“Why did I bring you with me!?” the first voice hissed.

“Do you think he’s going to try to get into the underground area first or-?” Dib whispered but was answered by a small explosion in the wall in front of them. When the dust cleared, Zim’s small form stepped in confidently.

“Now, to find that- eh?! DIB!”

“ZIM!” Dib exclaimed darkly. "You're late!" 

“DIB!” Zim repeated.

“ZIM!” 

The two went back and forth exclaiming each other’s names for a moment or two before Eldritch rolled her eyes.

“Enough!” she snapped. “Let’s get on with it!”

“Oh! Right!” Dib gasped then pointed dramatically at Zim. “That’s him, Eldritch! That’s the alien that was on the tape!” 

“So it is,” the woman growled, narrowing her eyes at Zim. Her tone became dark and frigid. “I’ve been waiting for this…”

The room fell silent as the standoff took place. Something metallic fell to the floor behind the alien and it let out a giggling noise before popping up behind Zim and waving.

“HI DIB!” it screeched. No one responded or moved a muscle. Dib could feel a bead of sweat trickle down the side of his head. He didn’t dare look at the woman next to him, in fear of Zim trying something.

* * *

“GET AWAY FROM ME!” Zim shrieked as he ran down a random alleyway somewhere on the exact opposite side of the city as fast as he could with a screaming Gir attached to his head. Dib and Eldritch were in hot pursuit, making the sharp corners on the skin of their teeth. Each sported a costume from crashing into a costume stand that Zim had pushed into their path. Dib fought to remove a top hat that had gotten caught on his large head as he ran, popping it off to show a black handlebar mustache and a monocle underneath. Eldritch threw off a capelet and a Musketeer hat while skidding around a corner.   
Following Zim through the narrow passageways of the buildings would have been a lot harder if the alien hadn’t caught fire when Gir crashed while flying the two through the city on his back. He was leaving a thick smoke trail behind him. 

“WOW!” Dib gasped as he removed the costume pieces and tossed them away. “I can’t believe we got down here so quickly! That car chase was amazing!”

“And I did it without getting a single scratch on the car!” Eldritch cackled. “Can’t say much for the crashes we caused though but it’s for the good of mankind! We need to catch that monster!”

“Agreed!”

The alleyway finally opened to a street that was parallel to a newly built underground bullet train station. Zim crossed the street and onto an enclosed footbridge that hung over the track then down a set of stairs leading into the station. Dib nearly threw himself over the railing to point Zim out.

“THERE!” he exclaimed. “There he goes! We can’t lose him!”

Eldritch bolted past him and was at the end of the footbridge before Dib could follow. He watched as she jumped down multiple steps at a time just to catch up with Zim at the bottom. Just as she made a grab for the alien, Zim grabbed Gir, ripped him off of his head, then threw the little robot into her path.

“WHEEEEEEEEHOOOOO!” Gir screeched as he slammed into Eldritch’s shins, causing her to fall forward to the floor with a yelp. A couple of items fell from her coat and scuttled across the floor. 

“Are you okay?!” Dib called out as he jumped onto the banister of the stairs and slid down to the platform.

“He’ll pay for that...” she snarled, ignoring him as she pushed herself up. Her tone had deepened greatly in what Dib could only guess was rage.

Without wasting a moment, she continued after the alien who ducked into the empty station. Dib went to follow only to pause at the sight of the items she dropped.

“Wait! You dropped some stuff!” he yelled after her, quickly picking up what looked to be a black voice recorder and what looked to be a damaged tape that made Dib pause. “Is this…?”

It had to be. It had to be the tape that showed Zim escaping the facility. Giddily, Dib slipped both items into his pockets and rejoined the chase. He could return them to her later once they’ve captured Zim. 

Dib skidded into the train station just in time to see Zim jump across the first set of tracks and Eldritch about to do the same. The sound of an approaching bullet train made Dib’s eyes widened and his head swivel in the direction of its whistle.

“Eldritch! Wait!” he rushed after her, reaching out a hand that would never make it in time to grab its target. “The train’s coming!”

His voice was drowned out by the train speeding past him just as Eldritch’s foot left the platform to jump the gap.

“NOOOO!”

Dib felt his heart slam up into his throat. His mind raced, trying to comprehend what had just happened. 

Zim came to a halt on the other side as another train came through, blocking any chance escape. Hearing Dib’s voice scream out, he looked back to see the woman jump the gap. Zim let out a triumphant “HA!” when he saw the train, believing that she wouldn’t make it.

“PITIFUL HUMANS! NO ONE CAN MATCH THE SPEED OF ZIM!” he yelled over the sound of the passing train. His attention was on where Dib would have been instead of the woman whose feet had made contact with the ground in front of him, missing the train by mere inches. Her coat billowed ominously as a pair of red eyes glared down at him.

“AH!” Zim recoiled with a leg up and his arms curled tightly to his body. Once the train passed, Dib gasped at the sight of the woman.

“You made it!” he exclaimed but she didn’t respond. Her attention remained on the alien. Dib turned his own attention to Zim. “HA! What now, Zim?!”

Zim looked around frantically before noticing a closed door on the stalled train, most likely meant for a platform that side which he then proceeded to pry open.

“Don’t let him get away!” Dib yelled out, trying to jump the gap himself but failed and ended up having to climb up the side. He only caught a glimpse of Eldritch’s jacket as it disappeared into the train car after Zim rushed inside before the doors closed and the train took off. “Wait! Eldritch!”

By the time he made it up onto the platform, the train had disappeared into the dark tunnel.

“No!” he growled under his breath. Glancing around quickly, he noticed a map of the city on the far wall. He jumped over the next gap without issue and rushed up to try to trace out which line Zim and Eldritch were on.

“Okay. I’m here…” he muttered, following the line from there with his finger. “That means they could end up- What?!”

He pulled his hand back in shock. The part of the map with the next exit was torn off as if someone had just taken it for whatever reason. Dib slammed his fist onto the board in anger.

“No! I can’t lose them!” he growled. He pushed away from the board to look around. “There has to be another map!”

Dib rushed up a set of stairs, leading up to the street above, the same street that he and Eldritch had crossed chasing Zim to get to the footpath, and looked around. A larger, more intact map was displayed on a wall outside of the station entrance under glass.

“Yes!” the boy exclaimed and proceeded to check it once more when flashing red and blue lights bathed the area.

“Hey! You! Stay right there!” a man’s voice called out. Dib turned with wide eyes to face a couple of police officers exiting a flashing squad car.

“... Poop…” he grumbled.

“It is a school night, what are you doing out-” the younger of the two officers started harshly before the other let out a hard sigh.

“Hold up, it’s the Membrane boy. Dib, what are ya doing out here, kid? Ya know it’s passed curfew for school kids. Does yer dad know yer out here?” an older police officer with squinted eyes, a square jaw, and a white handlebar mustache walked up with his hands on his hips.

“Officer Prambly! Agent Eldritch Horror and I are chasing-!” Dib tried to explain but his nerves got the best of him, causing him to ramble uncontrollably to the point that the officers couldn’t make heads or tails of what he was saying.

“Agent who?” the younger officer asked.

“Agent Eldritch Horror! She’s-!”

“Is this about the… “alien” yer always goin’ on about?” Officer Prambly tilted his head.

“Alien?”

“Ah, yeah, forgot you were new,” he turned his attention back to the younger officer. “Ya know him if ya saw him. The green kid.”

“He’s not a ‘kid’! He’s an alien from-!” Dib tried to argue.

“Yeah, I think I know who he is,” the younger cop rubbed his jaw then motioned as if he was hugging something. “He has that cute little green dog. Man, I love that little pup! He’s just so huggable!” “

“That’s the kid! Yeah, that pup is just so darn precious!”

Dib stood there with a thousand-yard-stare and a slight twitch as he listened to the two men. Glancing back at the map, he started to mutter to himself, trying to form a plan.

“Okay, let’s look at this logically… If I made a break for it now, I could get to the next stop in exactly thirty minutes but I’d have to arrive on the skin of my teeth in order to catch the train before it takes off. That’s if I’m not slowed down at any point. I would HAVE to make it there on the dot. Then again, if I made a break for it, I could be facing grounding again from Dad for trying to evade the authorities… again… since one of them already knows who I am,” Dib began to pace unconsciously as he spoke. The younger cop gave Officer Prambly a weird look as he pointed to Dib and Prambly shrugged, muttering that the boy was known for doing this. Dib did not hear any of it. “That could damage the mission and I won’t be able to help expose Zim with Eldritch if she is even able to catch him, which means we’ll have to make another plan and hope Zim doesn’t catch on that we will try to catch him again. Then again, I could ask Officer Prambly to take me to the train station to help catch Zim now since I’ve wasted so much time planning this already so we don’t have to make a plan later and-!”

Dib turned to see the two men silent staring at him.

“And… I’m talking out loud to myself again, wasn’t I?”

Both men nodded.   
“Oh…” Dib gasped softly but then perked up with his hands together and giving them a large grin. “So since you heard all of that, could you take me to the next stop on this train?”

The officers glanced at one another then back at the boy and shook their heads.

“Get in the car, Dib.” Officer Prambly moved back to the back of the squad car and opened the door to the back seat. Dib’s flight instinct was trying its damnedest to kick in but for the sake of the mission, he ignored it and did as he was told while grumbling under his breath. He had to remind himself that Eldritch would contact him regardless and it was not the end. Zim was going to be caught one way or another. 

* * *

Luck was on Dib’s side for once when he was returned home by the police. His father had not appeared at the windows nor the front door to investigate why he was being dropped off by the police.

“Aren’t we going to report this to his dad?” the younger cop asked, leaning over the passenger seat to look at Officer Prambly as he let Dib out of the back seat. The older officer shook his head.

“Nah, the kid came quietly. If he gave us any trouble, it’d be a different story,” Officer Prambly turned to look down at Dib. “But it ain’t gonna be like this again, ya got it? Consider this a warnin’, Dib.”

Dib stared up at the officer, his anger and fear of his father finding out draining some and he nodded. It was better not to push the issue with so much on the line.

“Good. Ya get inside and get ready for bed. It’s nearly midnight.”

“Okay. Thanks,” Dib nodded again then scurried to the front door.

“That was nice of you,” the younger officer muttered as his superior got in.

“Yeah, well, the kid’s had it rough with everyone thinkin’ he’s crazy. Better be nice to him once in a while, ya know?”

“Do you think he’s crazy?”

“You’re damn right I do, but I don’t wanna be the one havin’ to deal with that once the kid finally cracks, ya catch my drift? Kid could be a tickin’ time bomb for all I know. All I can hope is he’ll remember this and not shoot if it gets that far. Now, enough talk. Let’s go get some coffee.”   
Dib watched the cop car speed off down the way before entering the house. With a heavy sigh, he shuffled across the empty living room. How could he have let himself lose track of Zim and Eldritch? All he could do now was anxiously await her call, that is, if Zim didn’t do anything to her. Dib shook his head hard. 

‘No! She wouldn’t fall that easily!’ he tried to convince himself but it waned quickly. As much as he wanted to be confident for her, Dib knew anything could happen. All he could do was hope for the best and expect the worst. It was going to feel like an eternity waiting for that call. 

He decided it was probably best to head up to his room and wait. A passing glance at the clock on the wall told him it was thirty past midnight. That must have meant everyone was in bed-

“There you are,” his father’s voice rang out, causing Dib to nearly jump out of his skin. Professor Membrane’s tall form appeared in the doorway of the kitchen. “I was wondering where you had gone off to. No matter! I would like to ask you something.”

“O-Oh! Y-You’re awake!” Dib tensed up and gave a nervous grin. Ask him something?

“Of course I am. You know I don’t sleep. Besides, your sister is out with Clembrane to pick up a new video game that just dropped. Even if I did sleep, I wouldn’t have been able to, knowing that you two weren’t home.” 

“Oh, yeah, right!” the boy rubbed his arm. That was something new he had learned when his father started to stay home more often. “W-What did you need to ask me?”

Professor Membrane moved to sit on the couch and patted the cushion next to him. Dib hesitated a moment before following his father’s silent instructions.

“I wanted to ask you about the woman that was here earlier,” the large man began while bringing his fingertips together. “Who is she?”

Dib tensed up some as his eyes darted about the room. The tone of Membrane’s voice made him feel like he already knew the answer to his own question. 

“Agent… Eldritch Horror…” the boy answered weakly. “From… the Swollen Eyeball Network…”

“No, I don’t mean her code name with your silly little club. What is her real name?”

Dib flinched this time. Of course, that wasn’t going to be enough. He just shrugged while his mind tumbled with Eldritch’s concerns about his father and what he wanted with her. He was also trying to keep the idea of his father being an alien at bay for the time being. It was probably best to feign stupidity and hope he’d take that.

“I… don’t know…”

“Hm. Well, I don’t feel all that comfortable allowing you to run around with a nameless stranger. Either I have a name to go by or I can’t let you go off with her again,” Professor Membrane sighed as he pushed himself back up while rubbing his head. “For the life of me, I’m not sure why I let you go with her in the first place.”

“What?! No!” Dib gasped, jumping to his feet. “Agent Eldritch Horror and I have a mission to complete for the sake of all mankind! You have to let me go with her!”

“You say that for every mission you go on, son.”

“But it’s true!” 

“I’m sorry, but until I know who you are associating with, I can’t allow you to leave with a complete stranger,” Professor Membrane shook his head before heading back toward the kitchen.

“She’s not a stranger though! She’s-!” Dib chased after him. “She’s- Ugh! Her name is Professor Elderidge! She owns the Elderidge Observatory right on the outskirts of town and-!”

Professor Membrane had paused in the doorway before spinning around energetically and pointing a finger at his son.

“I KNEW IT!” he announced triumphantly. Dib’s arms dropped to his side.

“What?”

“The moment I saw the telescope dangling on her rearview mirror, I suspected her to be Professor Elderidge! There had been some uncertainty of who owned the observatory for a while as they seemed to have gone into hiding, but no matter! This is wonderful! Now I have a face to put with the name! Wait, ‘Eldritch’, ‘Elderidge’! Haha! I get it!” 

“Y-You tricked me!” Dib pointed accusingly. 

“I’m sorry, Dib. But I really did want to know who you were out with, in case anything did happen to you,” Professor Membrane explained. “Her happening to be the person I’ve been looking for was just a happy accident.”

Dib stared up at his father as he began to ramble on about visiting the observatory again. He furrowed his brow, fists clenching tightly.

“Why are you so obsessed with finding Professor Elderidge?” he growled which caused his father to pause.

“Hm? Oh, well, I can’t say right now-”

The answer caused Dib to become offensive. After everything he had gone through that night, he was afraid now that his father knew who Eldritch really was, something bad was going to happen. He wasn’t sure what but felt a knot in the pit of his stomach. The alien idea started to nag at him badly now, as well as the idea that the one he had perceived as his father his entire life was going to harm his partner for finding evidence of what Dib had been saying all this time. He couldn’t stay silent about it anymore.

“Why do you want to get her alone so badly? Is it so you can steal the tape back and destroy her for finding it?!” Dib blurted out, glaring up at the man. “That way no one would find out about Zim?! Is that why you’re so nice to him?!”

“Tape? What tape?” the professor raised a brow. “What does this have to do with Zim? Of course, I’m going to be nice to him. He’s your little friend-”

“He is not my friend! Why are you so persistent about calling him that?!” Dib bellowed then paused with a horrible realization. His eyes widened greatly and he stepped back with growing fear. “No… You’re in leagues with him, aren’t you?! Trying to discourage me from the paranormal so his invasion can be taken to the next level?!”

“Uh, I think you may have been delving too far into your parascience studies-”

“Stop with that excuse!” Dib screeched. When the man took a step forward, Dib panicked and snatched up the Membrane-shaped lamp from the side table and pointed it at his father. Professor Membrane put his hands up defensively. “Don’t come near me!”

“Easy. Put the lamp down. You know I would never-”

“How much longer did you think you could string me along like this?! Huh?! Huh?! Answer me!”

Professor Membrane just stood there, looking perplexed at his son’s reaction but he said nothing. The silence only fueled Dib’s rage. The fiery emotion welled up in his chest to the point that he began to tremble and his voice became more frantic, cracking from stress.

“Admit it! You’ve been lying to me my entire life! Why?! So you could continue doing the alien things you do?! O-Or let Zim take over invading while you deceive everyone into believing everything is okay?!”

“Dib-”

“I-I mean it all makes sense!” Dib gave an almost manic laugh as he waved the lamp around. Membrane fell quiet as his son began to rant. “All these years! No matter what evidence I brought you, you just brushed me off! You pretended it was something so benign! ‘Swamp gas’ or a ‘weather balloon’ when the real evidence was staring you in the face! You refused to look at any of the Mars photos I brought you! You even allowed that THING into our house when he came looking for me, and even better, left me alone with him!”

Membrane just gave a soft sigh and shifted into a more comfortable stance. This was going to take a while. Dib carried on in an almost sleep-deprived state. He had been up quite a while but he was too worked up to really notice. 

“Oh and don’t get me started on the Florpus fiasco! How could I overlook that whole ‘hallucination’ thing you pulled back then?! You knew what Zim was capable of! You knew Minimoose and the alien slime existed! You wouldn’t have had to ‘theorize’ about the exact items needed for it if you don't think they actually existed! How could I have been so stupid?! And you being put in ‘space prison’! Was that a cover story so you could keep at it?! You hesitated when it came to saving the earth!”

Membrane stared at the boy a moment then narrowed his goggled eyes.

“Son, how much sugar have you had today?”

“Am I your son?! Am I?!” Dib waved the lamp at him threateningly, his voice now shrill. “And I haven’t had any sugar since breakfast!”

“Of course you’re my son. Just as Gaz is my daughter. I wouldn’t-”

“Does that make me an alien too?!”

“No, Dib, you’re not an alien-” the man chortled softly. Dib wasn’t sure if it was genuine or if he was making fun of him.

“Stop laughing at me! Am I a clone?! How come I’ve never seen my mother?! I have early memories of everything BUT memories of her!” Dib growled but then stopped with a look of shock which made him point the lamp at the man aggressively. “DID YOU STEAL ME FROM MY MOM?!”

“Dib, calm down. I think you’re very confused right now and may need a good night’s sleep,” Professor Membrane kneeled down in front of him and moved to set a hand on the boy’s shoulder. “The answers to that are complicated. But rest assured, you are my son. You are not an alien. Aliens do not exist.”

The hand moving toward him made Dib flinch hard, clenching his eyes shut tightly.

He felt his fight or flight instincts kicked in. He knew what was under that glove and if his ‘father’ wanted to, he could end Dib with one tight grip. Now that he was fully convinced his father was an alien, horrible images filled his head of what the man would do to him because he knew. If Zim was bad, then Membrane would have been much, much worse. 

“DON’T TOUCH ME!”

The sound of glass shattering then something heavy hitting the floor made Dib open one eye. The lamp connected with what he assumed was Professor Membrane’s head when he swung. It had to be. White shards of glass littered the floor in front of him. All that was left of the lamp was the stand. Dib’s shoulder’s rose and fell heavily with shuddering breaths. Tears pushed at his eyes as he followed the shards to the stunned man before him. Professor Membrane had fallen backward onto his butt with a hand on the side of his head. When he started to push himself up with his gaze locked on the boy, Dib raised what was left of the lamp in defense.

“Don’t come any closer!” his voice cracked. “I-I’ll do it again!” 

“Dib,” the man called out calmly, his own voice slightly shaking from emotion. “Put the lamp down.”

Dib could only shake his head as he stepped back when the man got back up into kneeling position. 

“Easy, easy. I’m not going to hurt you. I would never harm you.”

When Professor Membrane reached out once more, Dib panicked and went to swing again. This time, the lampstand was caught and pulled forward. It wasn’t the type of pull to try to get the boy to release the lamp, but to pull him closer to the man, causing Dib to let it go and back away. His mind raced on what to do next.

“Dibson, look at me.”

Dib flinched again and out of shock, he looked up. His whole name was almost never used by his father unless it was dire. It was then that Dib noticed that one of the lenses from Membrane’s goggles had fallen out from the hit, revealing a dark brown eye underneath. The man shakenly raised a hand to pull his collar down, revealing a very human-looking face.

“See? I am not an alien.”

Dib felt torn at that moment. Sure, his father looked human, but so did Tak and she turned out to be Irken.

“I don’t-!” the boy sobbed only to freeze mid-sentence when something caught his eye. A dark red liquid dripped down the side of his father’s head. The impact with the lamp was enough to cause bleeding and it looked to be normal human blood. From his experience with aliens, they didn’t bleed red. Zim’s blood was a clearish pink. The reality of he had just done hit him hard. “Dad?”

The sound of the front door slamming behind Dib caused him to glance over his shoulder. The last thing he saw was an enraged Gaz charging him with full force before everything went black.


	4. The Reveal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Something is off about Dib's new partner.
> 
> [Artwork by Siro-cyll](http://siro-cyll.tumblr.com)

_ I’m getting sick of these people asking for ‘Professor Elderidge’ after it’s been made clear that Dad’s gone. When I tell them it’s me, they scoff and respond ‘Oh, I want the REAL Professor Elderidge’. What exactly do they mean by that and what are they expecting? If they’re expecting some guy to come waltzing out, someone’s getting a crotch shot with a steel-toed boot. I have no clue how they can be so confused over this. There are female professors, you jerks. I’m getting to the point that I’m just saying that Professor Elderidge ran off and I’m just the observatory’s caretaker. It’s not like I actually give lectures here or anything. Oh, wait. I DO! _

_ Despite that, I have decided to follow through with my father’s tradition of handing off his discoveries to his assistants. Sure, recognition is nice and all, but once you’ve discovered something big, people start putting heavier expectations on you. I’d rather not deal with that. _

“Agent Eldritch Horror calling Agent Mothman. Come in, Mothman.”

Dib’s eyes cracked open with a groan. His head pounded heavily as he tried to gather his wits and gauge his surroundings. Everything was dark, yet familiar. He slowly began to realize he was back in his room.

“Agent Mothman here,” he groaned, lifting his wrist to see the dark figure on the screen. 

“Oh, good! I take it you made it home safely?”

“Yeah…” Dib nodded then perked up. “Did you catch Zim?”

“No, unfortunately. He was able to duck away into a crowded nightclub,” the agent growled. The sound of muffled yelling made Dib raise a brow.

“What’s that noise?”

“Some drunken idiot followed me out of the nightclub and I threw him in a dumpster when he tried to ‘flirt’ with me.”

“Oh,” Dib blinked. 

“It’s nothing to worry about. Anyway, we’re going to have to try again later. I have some errands I need to take care of then I’ll come to pick you up so we can form another plan-”

As the woman talked, Dib began to realize the gravity of his situation. He remembered why he was in his room and he felt his heart sink into the pit of his stomach.

“I… can’t…” he muttered while rubbing the back of his neck.

“You can’t? What’s wrong?”

“I’m most likely grounded at this point.”

“Grounded?” the dark figure raised a brow. “What did you do?”

“I… attacked Dad thinking he was an alien.”

“You attacked your parental unit? Mothman-”

“I know, it was stupid. I think I just got worked up when I asked him about the observatory… I didn’t even get an answer from him. I just… lost it.”

“I see.”

A knock on his door made Dib glance up to see his father standing there when it opened.

“I’ll… have to call you later…” he muttered.

“All right. I’ll keep an eye out for Zim and keep you updated. Don’t get into any more trouble.”

“Thanks.”

When the screen cut off, the woman chuckled, shook her head then glanced at the source of the muffled screaming. What was supposed to be her arm was extended outward, holding up a small, green, squirming child-like figure against a brick wall. Her forearm was morphed into a red, pulsating blob that was wrapped tightly around Zim’s mouth and head. Zim fought his hardest to get free as Eldridge leaned closer to him.

“You’ve evaded me long enough, Invader,” she murmured menacingly. Her normal free hand raised into Zim’s view and in it was a keyfob which she pressed. Moments later, her black car rolled up right outside of the alley. “Let’s go back to your place. I’ve got to make a call.”

Zim screamed from behind the morphed hand and continued to fight as he was dragged toward the car.

The screen went dark and Dib turned his attention to Professor Membrane as he moved forward to sit on the bed next to him. The bandage on the side of his father’s head made Dib tensed up and turned his gaze to the floor, his hands clenching the material over his knees. The man’s goggles have been replaced as well. Dib could almost bet the ones he broke were his father’s prescription pair. 

The boy winced heavily at the thought of what would have happened if the lamp had been positioned just a couple of inches back. What many didn’t know was, not only was his father blind as a bat without glasses (which he refused to wear, he insisted on prescription goggles), he was deaf. The man had lost his hearing due to an explosion in his lab when Dib was younger. It resulted in both him and Gaz learning sign language until the special goggles were created.

The panel across the back of his head and over where his ears would be was a highly advanced hearing aid that Membrane created himself. It was embedded in his head to the point that it could not be removed, but a battery located in the rear of the panel could be to be recharged every couple of years. If Membrane needed to replace the lenses of the goggles, they could be unclipped from the sides of the panel and a new set would pop right in. There were plenty of backup goggles due to Membrane’s line of work, but the panel was one of a kind due to its complexity. If it were damaged, it would have severely hindered his father.

“Feeling better?” Membrane asked, his voice soft and calm. Dib felt a lump rise in his throat and he nodded. “You do remember what happened, right?”

Dib nodded again.

“Good. What on earth made you believe that I was an alien, son?”

With a deep exhale, the boy listed off everything Eldritch had mentioned that would have in some way, shape, or form would be seen as not being entirely normal. The more he listed off, the more upset he became. He really did strike his dad with a lamp over something so stupid.

“I’m so sorry, Dad,” his voice finally cracked as he put his head in his hands. “I let such a stupid thought get the best of me…”

A large hand rested on Dib’s back as he heaved a heavy sob.

“I see,” was all his father said in a tone that made the boy flinch hard. It was the same tone he used when he was contemplating on sending Dib somewhere. There was no hiding that after the last handful of times. He was sent directly to the Crazy House for Boys or the like for short stints. His eyes widened in fear as he turned and grabbed the sleeve of his father’s lab coat. 

“Please don’t send me back to the Crazy House for Boys! I won’t do it again! I swear!”

“Easy, easy. I’m not going to send you anywhere,” Membrane cooed as he gently took his son’s hands off of his sleeve. “I don’t believe that sending you to those places have helped you any.”

“It’s because I’m not crazy! I’m-!” Dib sobbed but couldn’t finish the sentence.

“I know you’re not crazy. In fact, I believe I have realized what you have.”

Dib sniffled some as Membrane pulled out some tissues from his pocket and handed them to him.

“Y-You have? What?” the boy asked after blowing his nose.

“You have a highly overactive imagination,” the man explained. “You are seeing things that aren’t there and reading much further into situations than is needed.”

“But-” Dib tried to argue. Membrane let out a sigh as he rubbed the back of his neck.

“I have been reading a lot of parenting books lately, and I admit that I have been going about you all wrong. What happened downstairs was a failure in parenting on my part and for that, I apologize, Dib,” Membrane scooped up his son to sit him on his lap. “I have failed you as a father.”

“N-No, that’s not- that’s not true!” Dib gripped his father’s coat again. 

“But it is. I have treated you as if you were a textbook example. The truth of the matter is, you’re not. Neither is your sister. So, I burned all of the textbooks relating to that in a bonfire in the backyard,” he thumbed over his shoulder.

“Dad-”

“From now on, you and I are going to spend more time together. I think after that incident, we’re due for some father-son time. I was thinking we could start by clearing out the garage of a lot of that junk, including my own inventions that haven’t been touched in years. Okay?”

Dib wanted to argue. He wanted to tell his father that there really were aliens and magic and stuff in the world. He wasn’t hallucinating or imagining things. One glance up at the bandage on Membrane’s head made him stop. Guilt churned in his stomach like a circular saw. 

What harm could it do if he just humored his father for a short time? There was already someone on Zim’s tail so he wasn’t exactly the only one to defend the earth anymore. Someone did believe him. He did feel that he owed his father something for the way he acted. It would only be for a short time, at least. Swallowing hard, Dib nodded.

“Okay. But I get to keep anything I deem important...”

“Great! As long as I get to do the same, we can start on it first thing tomorrow!” Membrane beamed. It was almost as if a weight was lifted off of Dib’s shoulders in that instant. The more he thought about it, the more he felt silly about the whole ordeal but something still ate at him. The idea of his father knowing more than he let on was obvious enough to a S.E.N. agent, even to the point that it was theorized that this man could have been not of this world. Dib wanted to brush it off, just as he did with Bill’s theories of Frankenchokey and Count Cocoa-fang but there was still some merit to the theory. Even though he was now certain his father wasn’t an alien, he was extremely curious about what Membrane wasn’t telling him or anyone for that matter. The theoretical explanation back at Moo-ping 10 was a bit suspicious in hindsight. For now, he’d let sleeping dogs lie.

Movement against his wrist made him look down to see his father removing his communicator watch, causing the boy to jerk his arm back out of reflex but it was too late. Membrane palmed the watch to place in his pocket.

“Wait, what-? I need that!” Dib tried reaching for it but Membrane shook his head. “But- Agent Eldritch-!”

“While I do take responsibility for what happened downstairs, I believe it’ll be better for you to take a break from your little club. Also, you’re grounded from all non-family activities for breaking my favorite lamp.”

“For how long!?”

“Hm. About a week seems fair,” Membrane rubbed his jaw through his collar.

“But what about Eldritch? I need to tell her-”

“I will handle Professor Elderidge. I would like to speak with her anyway and I will be sure to let her know you’re grounded. Now, empty your pockets of all electronics.”

Dib sighed before plunging his hands into his pockets, only to feel the items Eldritch had dropped during the chase: a voice recorder and the tape he was sure had the footage of the alien escape. He hesitated before pulling them out and keeping them out of his father’s reach for a moment. He had hoped to snoop a little bit, wanting to hear what was on the voice recorder and view the original videotape.

“All of them, Dib,” his father warned, flicking his hand to coax his son to give him the electronics.

“These… aren’t mine. They’re Eldritch’s,” the boy informed him.

“I’ll make sure she gets them back.”

Dib looked down at the items then set them against Membrane’s palm. He could probably just ask Eldritch later about reviewing them. Membrane pushed himself up off the bed and moved around the room, unplugging the computer and taking the electrical cords. No electronics. No games. Just books and non-electronic hobbies. That was usually the terms of all of his groundings. He watched as his father walked back to the doorway and pressed a panel on the wall that opened it to show a small keyboard that he began to type on.

Due to past attempts of trying to escape grounding to chase after Zim, his father had placed a security system strictly used for grounding that would be tailored to certain conditions, be it in his room for the day or house arrest for weeks. Membrane had created a sentient AI that would report Dib’s movements. It was also made for Gaz, but she was rarely ever in trouble.

“So… am I allowed out of my room or…?”

Membrane glanced back at him with a thoughtful look.

“Hm. I’d rather you stay here,” he answered. “I’ll bring you something to eat and drink, but you need to catch up on your sleep. A tired mind helps no one.”

Dib wanted to argue and fight back but he just nodded. He could still sleep. He figured by the time he woke up, enough time would have passed to either try to lessen his grounding or have Eldritch return and she could do it.

“Okay…”

The door of Zim’s green home was kicked opened and Eldritch entered, still holding Zim with the deformed arm.

“Ever since that… THING… with the Florpus Hole, I’ve been trying to track you down!” Eldritch snarled lowly.

“Release me, you horrible-AH!” Zim yelled only to be thrown across the room once they crossed the welcome mat. He landed face-first onto the floor and skidded a short way before pushing himself up to glare back at the intruder. Eldritch’s arm returned to normal as she snatched the door and slammed it shut. “COMPUTER-!”

“Spoot. Restrain him,” Eldritch threw out an arm in Zim’s direction. The woman’s skin and clothes suddenly peeled away toward the end of her arm, revealing green skin, red eyes and a red and black striped uniform underneath. What used to be her pale skin and dark clothes gathered into a red blob on the woman’s hand and it sprung forward at the Irken. Zim let out a shriek as the blob attached itself around his body and then his mouth, silencing him. A small, snake-like head formed before his eyes and a mouth opened.

“Hello,” a deep demonic voice greeted him then looked back toward what was left of the woman. “Can I eat this one, Master?”

“Not yet.”

“But you wouldn’t let me eat the pointy boy!” the blob whined.

“‘Pointy boy’ is off-limits indefinitely!”

Zim’s eyes widened in terror and he turned his attention back to the ‘woman’ to see a tall, slender female Irken glaring back at him. The thin arm that was extended was metallic and robotic in nature. Eldritch curled her metal fingers and arm back toward her before positioning both arms behind her back and walked forward, narrowing her eyes at the smaller Irken.

“I’m not done with this one,” she growled then directed her words toward Zim. “When you first arrived to this planet, I actually believed you to be the key to getting back to Irk. I believed the Massive to be completed and Tallest Miyuki’s plans of galactic conquest had been realized. All I figured I had to do was keep a low profile and wait for the Armada’s arrival. This wasn’t my mission after all.”

Eldritch started to circle Zim as he struggled with the blob, only to be squeezed hard enough to make him stop. He tried yelling for Gir but nothing but muffled nonsense came out.

“What I did not realize was that you would rather spend your time running around with Earthen smeets than focusing on your actual mission! I had to rely on the same Earthen smeet you often played with to find you since I wasn’t sure if this was your base or not! I thought, ‘surely this Elite Invader wouldn’t DARE live in such an attention-grabbing eyesore’. Clearly, I was wrong. Color me disgusted.”

“EH!?” Zim yelled out behind his gag. Eldritch shook her head, stopping in front of the TV screen.

“No matter,” she sighed with a glance up into the base’s ceiling. “Computer, run commander override Zelta Skoot and connect me with Tallest Miyuki. I must speak with her about how this ‘Invader’ has slipped in his ability to fulfill basic duties.”

“Running Zelta Skoot override…” the deep voice of Zim’s computer echoed throughout the room. Moments later, it bellowed. “YES COMMANDER I OBEY! CALLING TALLEST MIYUKI!”

“Thank you,” the tall Irken smirked down at Zim. “I should have done this ages ago. I hope you had fun wasting my time here, Invader. I’m going to enjoy watching the Command Brains recode your PAK for insubordination-”

“ERROR! CONTACT NOT FOUND FOR TALLEST MIYUKI!”

The smirk on her face disappeared and she turned her attention back to the ceiling.

“What? What do you mean ‘Contact not found’?”

“Database search brings up one ‘Tallest Miyuki’. Tallest Miyuki was killed some time ago by a horrible infinite energy-absorbing blob created by a scientist stationed on Vort,” it explained. “She was succeeded by Tallest Spork.”

As the computer explained the situation, Zim tried to sneak into the kitchen, only for Spoot to create a long, spindly appendage from its body and wrap it around Zim’s ankles. This caused the small Irken to fall forward onto his face once more. The blob let out a squeaky snicker at the noise Zim made upon hitting the tile.

“Killed…” Eldritch whispered, her face falling hard in disbelief. “Tallest Miyuki is… dead?”

“Yes, Commander!”

She covered her mouth and tapped her cheek in thought. The tall Irken shook her head hard and cleared her throat. “T-Then call Tallest Spork!”

“CALLING TALLEST SPORK! ERROR! CONTACT NOT FOUND FOR TALLEST SPORK!”

“Now what?!”

“Tallest Spork was killed the day of his coronation by the same infinite energy-absorbing blob.”

Eldritch placed a hand on her head in disbelief.

“Two Tallests killed?! In such a short time?! By the same entity?! That’s… That’s impossible… U-Unless... Computer! Connect me with the current Tallest!”

“Calling the Tallests!”

The screen next to Eldritch flicked on as the call went through and a picture flashed on the screen. Standing there, looking heavily beaten up and burned with the background being cleaned up, was two Tallests, one red, one purple. Their style seemed a bit off, but consistent due to being lost in the Florpus. Eldritch’s body tensed up some out of surprise. 

“Two?” she murmured. “There are two Tallests?!”  
“What do you want, Zim!?” the red one snapped.

“Yeah! Haven’t you caused us enough trouble-?!” the purple one screeched but then paused. “Hey, wait a minute. You’re not Zim.”

“You’re so… tall…” the red one added, rubbing his chin.

“This ‘Zim’ is a bit tied up at the moment, My Tallests,” Eldritch started, sounding unsure of the title at first. “I am Commander Roan. I served under Tallest Miyuki-”

Tallest Red’s eyes suddenly widened in realization.

“Waaaaait, I remember you!” he pointed at the screen. “But… You were declared dead forever ago!”

Eldritch, now revealed to be Roan, pressed a hand to her temple with a deep sigh. 

“Yes, it is a very long, very tedious story that I do not wish to go into. Just know my demise was exaggerated and that I am very much alive-”

“Oh yeah!” Purple said slowly but then perked up immediately and threw an arm over Red’s shoulders. “I remember too! Commander Roan! Do you remember us!?”

Roan glance up with a confused expression.

“Ah… Forgive me but I’ve been gone a long while-”

“It’s us! Red and Purple! You remember! We were in your training Platoon!” Red motioned between him and Purple. Roan’s face fell upon hearing this before twisting into a horrified expression. Behind her, Zim had struggled into view, trying his hardest to dislodge the giggling blob that kept him bound.

“You two became Tallests?! You clowns barely passed the training I put you through!” 

“Commander Sklork passed us and we became Elite Invaders!” Purple beamed. 

“Then the thing happened with Tallest Miyuki and Tallest Spork…” Red waved a hand. Purple shook his head.

“Tragic. Truly tragic. But HEY! The brains gave us the positions soon after cuz we tall!” 

Roan’s eye twitched uncontrollably at the reality she was facing.

“I have been stranded here for over sixty years-” she started in an ominous tone.

“Oh, it’s been WAAAAY longer than that, Commander. You’ve been gone a few centuries,” Red explained as Purple began to gorge himself on donuts he was handed by an Irken with a table strapped to its head.

“We still thought you were dead,” he added with a full mouth. Roan gripped her head with both hands, staring down at the floor in front of her. The highlights of her eyes shivered as thoughts churned in her head.

“... Where is… Commander Sklork?” Roan turned a vacant gaze to the Tallests.

“I think he retired,” Purple munched.

“Yep! He retired to Plaaaaaarrrrg 9 soon after we became Tallests! He was made a hero by Tallest Miyuki after the incident that supposedly killed you and all those scouts since he was the lone survivor. ”

“Not anymore it seems!” the purple Tallest pointed at Roan.

“And hey! You look just as tall as us! Once we get out of this mess and back on track, we can come by, pick you up and have the Command Brains-”

Before Red could finish, the transmission was cut, or more specifically, the monitor had been ripped out of the wall by Roan and thrown across the room. Zim had struggled enough to get his hand free and tore off the part that kept his mouth shut.

“Hey! That’s my TV!” Zim screeched. He turned his glare up at the taller Irken only to furrow his brow. “… Are you okay?”

The look she gave him was someone whose sanity had just snapped in two. Spoot’s snake-like head perked up some and it ignored Zim’s continuous struggle.   
“Master?”

“Tallest Miyuki is dead… Tallest Spork is dead… Two idiots are Tallests… I’ve wasted time waiting on an incompetent Invader for rescue-”

“I heard that! You were talking about me right?!” Zim growled as he fought to keep his balance, reminding the blob that he had an arm free and it created another appendage to ricochet it back to his side. 

“And now this planet sees me as its own carbon-based lifeform…” she whispered to herself. “This all happened because of HIM… This has to be his doing.”

“Who now?”

“I should have known. I should have nipped it in the bud the moment he started acting suspiciously. I should have killed him for so much as breathing wrong…”

“... To be clear, you’re not talking about me now, huh?” Zim raised a brow.

“It’s clear that this is corruption. I have no choice. I must end it…”

“Um… Hello?” Zim called out, rolling across the floor. The Irken commander seemed to be too far gone with her assessment. “I’m still here you know! Hey! Hey! Hey! Look at me! Hey!”

“Even if my homeworld is no longer Irk, I can’t leave them to something he started… I _ will _ end this…” Roan growled and stormed toward the door. “Spoot. We’re leaving.”

“But… But… Snack?” the snakehead looked between Zim and Roan.

“I’ll get you tater tots on the way out…”

“TOOOOOTS!” the blob screeched before releasing Zim and slithering quickly after the Irken Commander. When it collided with her, it started to engulf her entire body. Her green skin was soon covered by a pale replacement and her clothes reverted back to what Eldritch wore the moment she stepped foot into the house. 

“A symbiote!” Zim panted as he pushed himself off the floor. The fight against the blob had taken a lot out of him. “Those are supposed to be extinct! The Irken Elites made sure to eradicate them for targeting Invaders! Where did you get one?!”

Roan, now in her ‘Eldritch’ human form, glared back at the smaller Irken.

“I found her. Spoot is my camouflage symbiote and she allows me to do things I can’t normally do as an Irken. Our people failed to realize their potential once tamed. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have plotting to do.”

“Spoot?” Zim muttered. Before he could ask anything else, Roan disappeared beyond the doorway. “Eh? That was strange…”

The Irken stood there for the longest time, staring at the door with a constipated look on his face. Before he reacted, Gir had already been in and out of the house three dozen times in the span of several hours. Zim threw his arm out, pointing to the door with conviction.

“WAIT A MINUTE! THAT WAS AN IRKEN COMMANDER!”


	5. The Memory

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Short drabble to get a bit of insight on our antagonist. Things are about to hit the fan.
> 
> WARNING! Someone does get eaten in a pretty brutal way sorta off-screen while all of this goes down. It's like Venom meets Pennywise the Clown. Just a heads up in case it's not something you wanna read. 
> 
> [Artwork by Siro-cyll](http://siro-cyll.tumblr.com)

The sound of unholy screeching pierced the night, causing the residents surrounding the neon green eye sore that a certain Irken called home to cautiously peek out of their houses. There, parked at the end of the cul de sac, a sleek black sports car rocked and jerked violently as if some large wild animal had been locked inside and was trying to force its way out. When the rocking finally stopped, many retreated back into the safety of their domiciles, probably believing the scene was that of a bad break up/meltdown of one of their neighbors or a bee invading the small space. All but one went back to their beds when the unsettling silence fell. A brave or foolish soul, a heavyset, balding man clad in a dingy once-white tank top, a pair of polka dot boxers stepped off of his stoop and approached the car, sporting a can of Poop Cola. 

Within the vehicle, he could see the outline of its driver with their forehead placed on the steering wheel. He rapped his knuckles against the glass of the driver-side window before promptly reaching behind to scratch his left rear cheek. A moment of silence passed, saved for the sound of the man taking a swig of his drink and the window opened an inch or two.

“Er, oh!” he exclaimed softly, stooping down to look in. “Uh, hi. Was wonderin’ if everythin’ was okay-”

The interior of the car was pitch black but he could clearly see a pair of angry red eyes narrowing at him.

“Cuz, not ta be rude or nothin’ but yer gonna have to move yer car. Kinda disturbing the-” he continued.

“Can I?!” a deep, demonic voice growled which made the man pause. “‘m hungry!”

“Yes,” replied a soft but irritated female voice. “Just make it quick and clean.”

“Uh… what?” the man squinted into the car. The demonic voice squealed in delight and the man fell back, blinded by a red blur that sprung forth from the cracked window. 

Roan’s robotic hand creaked as it gripped the steering wheel, both hands threatening to break it. The man’s muffled, terrified screams along with the crunching and smacking noises were distant for her, despite being just a few feet away. Her chest rumbled with a primal growl and her hardened glare pierced through whatever was in front of the car as her situation tumbled in her head. Tallest Miyuki was dead. Tallest Spork was dead. Two of her worst students now held that title. She wasted 60+ years on this ball of filth and disease with more time wasted on what she perceived was a competent Invader. The Commander who did all of this to her was being hailed a hero and was off on some distant planet, retired and probably happy with himself. The image of him relaxing on the shores of Phlaaaarg 9 caused fire to coarse through her veins, or whatever Irkens had. She wanted nothing more than to tear him limb from limb for what he did. In all actuality, that was the plan now that she knew he was still alive. The sound of her robotic hand grinding against the steering wheel again made her pause and bring her fingers up to her temple. She was about ready to go into another rage just thinking about it.

“Calm down,” she growled to herself, closing her eyes tightly. “Calm down. Destroying inanimate objects won’t accomplish anything… Calm down… Rage makes mistakes and exposes weaknesses. You’re above that. You’re-”

“The best of the best,” a voice echoed in her mind, a voice that she had not heard in so long. With a sharp inhale, Roan opened her eyes, only to find herself standing much shorter than she currently was in the center of the Tallest’s private chambers in her private guard uniform. She stood erect with a standard weapon in hand, staring across at a tall, thin creature draped over a sofa, bathed in starlight that shone in from the large window behind her. She could hear orders being barked out faintly as the window overlooked a training area for younger Irkens just starting their elite training. “Your talents are wasted as my guard. How often do you see combat standing outside of my quarters?”

Roan could feel her throat dry as she stared into the elegant blue pools of Tallest Miyuki. Her squeedily spooch was doing somersaults while the purr in the leader’s voice caused her skin to prickle some.

“Not often, My Tallest,” she found herself replying in disappointment. “Not since the Vortian messenger.”

The poor Vortian didn’t stand a chance against Roan’s berserker-like rage after she found out what the message was, that his people were not going to meet Tallest Miyuki’s demands of turning over their planet for research purposes. His skull was now a decoration on Roan’s wall in her sleeping quarters. It wasn’t like she regretted the action either. No one told Tallest Miyuki ‘no’. EVER. 

Other than that, her job often entailed kicking fanboys out who would try to pilfer some of the leader’s items as mementos for their sick little shrines. Tallest Miyuki found them entertaining and told Roan not to hurt them, just hand them over to the command brains who would find them something more productive to do. If Roan had to guess, it made Tallest Miyuki feel more superior knowing there were some that would go those lengths to get a piece of her.

“Exactly,” the taller female smirked as she pushed herself up off the sofa. This caused Roan to tense up and stand straighter than a pin. Sweat began to pour from her brow. Tallest Miyuki swept past Roan a couple of feet or so with her fingers pressed together and paused, glancing back at her out of the corner of her eye. “Which is why I am going to appoint you as one of my elite commanders.”

Roan nearly spun around in shock but maintained her stance, her eyes glued to the large window.

“B-But-! W-With all due respect, M-My Tallest, I haven’t the training-” she sputtered and Miyuki scoffed playfully. Roan froze as Miyuki’s face appeared next to her cheek from behind with the same amused expression. She braced herself harder, not sure what to expect with her own face reddening. Did it get hot in the room?

“A technicality. Nothing more. I’ve been watching how you’ve been handling the situations your current job puts you through. You certainly have the attitude for it. You can control such an intense rage that would destroy any other being. You have a gift.”

“W-Well, I-” the guard muttered under her breath, turning her gaze to the floor with her hand clutching her weapon tightly. ‘I’ve had to, for your sake’ she wanted to say, wanting to tell Miyuki that the whole reason she could control her rage mostly was so that she wouldn’t hurt the Tallest on accident during a rampage when she was put on as her personal guard. And it wasn’t easy.

Tallest Miyuki chuckled softly, pulled away, and circled back to her window, passing the sofa with her hands behind her back. Roan’s posture nearly collapsed with an outward sigh but she couldn’t figure out if she was feeling relief or disappointment from the interaction. Regardless, her attention snapped back to her leader.

“I will speak with the command brains and explain my reasoning for advancement. If need be, you may need to complete a short course at Hobo 13, but I see no reason not to put you back on the front lines, but this time commanding and training soldiers who could take a lesson from your ruthlessness,” the Tallest explained, her eyes watching the training commence below her. “You will be more valuable to me on the field when we begin our sweep of the universe. Any scrub could be my personal guard. It takes someone as vicious and as cruel as you to lead the charge. What say you, Roan?”

Roan’s entire body jolted as if it had touched an electric field. The smug smirk Tallest Miyuki gave when she uttered Roan’s name shook the Irken to her very core. On one hand, she would no longer be around the tall Irken to protect her. On the other, it would seem to make the leader happy to know Roan was living up to her potential, and knowing that Tallest Miyuki was counting on her, Roan would absolutely desecrate a planet in record time in her name. The soldier regained her composure before marching up to her leader and kneeling with her head down.

“I would be honored to serve under you, no matter what title I held, My Tallest. As long as it pleases you.”

“Good. We’ll have to discuss this further later. Now, have one of the servants bring us some nachos to celebrate and tell them to be quick about it! There looks like there’s going to be a fight between that red one and purple one down there. They’ve been doing this on and off for the past week and I can’t seem to look away!” Tallest Miyuki exclaimed as she turned, pressed her face to the window, and pointed out the window at some of the younger Irkens who threw down their weapons and circled each other while yelling. This caused Roan to smirk uncontrollably before puffing out her chest and saluting.

“Yes, My Tallest!”

The sound of Spoot finishing up her meal outside made the Irken slowly come back to reality while saluting to the void. She was back in the car, decades, perhaps centuries later. Alone. A calm sadness washed over Roan as she leaned forward with her forehead on the only part of the steering wheel that wasn’t marred up.

“Yes, My Tallest…” she repeated to herself softly, eyes closed. 

Notably, sadness doesn’t typically reside for very long in most Irkens’ systems before morphing into something more destructive. Those that don't have that trait will become fat, whiny cry babies in need of a bottle and an execution. However, Roan was the former, not the latter.

The more Roan thought of Miyuki, the faster things started to come back which made her sit back up with a glare. With the inclusion of anger, guilt started to churn in her midsection. Miyuki was murdered when she wasn’t there. So was Spork but Roan could not care less about him. She barely knew the guy and would have probably caused a mutiny if he were in charge if she were around. Miyuki on the other hand… She knew Miyuki well enough to know that the Tallest would want swift, fierce justice brought onto the heads of those who caused her death, the type of justice that would result in the perpetrators' heads exploding violently off of their shoulders as punishment-!

“I have to avenge my Tallest-” Roan growled deeply then paused when the man’s muffled screams came to a halt. A small, deep squeak made her look out the window and open the driver's side door.

“Done!” The small red blob slumped into the car at the Irken’s feet with a satisfied purr. Roan’s demeanor softened at the sight of her, much in the way of an owner with their pet. Her robotic hand reached down and scratched the little creature under its chin... or where the chin should have been.

“Satisfied?”

“Ye!” Spoot sighed before starting to cover Roan lazily to assume her duty of being the Irken Commander’s human camouflage. Roan’s thoughts turned back to the situation at hand as her gaze settled on what was left of the man on the sidewalk which was nothing more than a pile of bones, picked clean by the symbiote.

“Good. We have work to do.”

“Ooooh! What now?”

“Vengeance, naturally,” she glanced to the floor of the passenger side, noticing a disheveled pile of documents the observatory worker handed to her earlier that day. Her rampage must have knocked them off of the seat. Her eyes narrowed on the header of the top page with a signature and phone number underneath. Membrane Labs. A smirk spread across her face as she started the car. “And I think I know where we need to start…”

Spoot gave a gasp and swiveled her head toward the Irken.

“I can has pointy boy?!”

“We’ll see,” Roan muttered. The car roared to life and then, with tires screeching, it raced down the short road and serpentined through the neighborhoods. “But then you’ll have to choose between him and tater tots.”

“Wat?!”


	6. Phase 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Phase 3 is in motion. It wasn't the intended phase 3, but it is A phase 3 since Phase 2 didn't work out so well cuz Tallest Miyuki is dead and all that jazz. There's a pissed off Irken on the warpath, people. You've been warned. 
> 
> [Artwork by Siro-cyll](http://siro-cyll.tumblr.com)

Her vacant gaze settled on the turbulent surface of the liquid as ice cubes bobbed and ducked in the ripples of her last dunk. The bathroom sink was as full and as cold as she could get it to try to numb herself. If she could still feel the freezing tile under her bare feet and the water trickling down her face, it wasn’t cold enough. The events from earlier that night played over and over in her mind, causing her to become restless and unable to sleep. 

Gaz couldn’t remember the last time she had to quell her adrenaline using some form of distraction. Maybe it was when that Iggins kid stole her Game Slave 2? Or was it saving Dib from his own stupidity for rushing off to infiltrate Zim’s house when it was her turn to pick the family night dinner? Even rescuing her dad from Zim didn’t rile her up that badly. Either way, she did not like getting worked up and, no matter how many times she dunked her head, the image of her father on the floor holding his bleeding head with her brother standing over him would not leave her mind. It was burned there as a permanent reminder in the back of her mind that Dib was not well.

She could admit that knocking Dib out cold was a bit of an overreaction, especially since she hadn’t been present to how the hit transpired but saw and heard enough to make her react violently. It seemed like he had realized what he had done before her interference but once she started charging at Dib, it couldn’t be stopped. While her father did understand her stance, her actions did earn her a week of being grounded from her newest game. Still, she knew she shouldn’t have done it. 

Gaz let out a heavy sigh before snapping up a towel and throwing it over her magenta hair to prevent her nightgown from getting soaked any further. This wasn’t working. She’d have to find a different method to distract her mind. 

“It was only a matter of time…” she whispered to herself before proceeding to dry her hair. The phrase was one her father often used when it came to Dib’s breakdowns, a phrase that felt like he was just trying to brush it off. Gaz knew a major meltdown would occur sooner rather than later. With how Dib was constantly ridiculed by his peers, his own father dismissing any evidence the boy had gathered to support his claims and, another admission Gaz had to come to terms with, her unwillingness to help him in his missions to prove his sanity, it was so obvious. If it weren’t, she wouldn’t have gone as far as slipping up-to-date parenting material into his mail when he started to stay home more.

Maybe the chain of events earlier proved something to him that needed to be addressed a long time ago. At least the conversation the two had when Dib woke up did something, even though Membrane now believed that Dib had an overactive imagination instead of the reality of the situation. Part of Gaz wanted to go hunt down Zim and beat the living hell out of him on behalf of her brother. The other part just wanted to forget the whole thing ever happened and head to play her other games-

Gaz’s ears perked at a new sound echoing off of the walls of the bathroom, pulling her out of her thoughts. She could hear someone talking in the distance, somewhere downstairs. Was someone over?

The small girl tore off the towel and shook her head hard enough to cause it to bounce back into its classic shape before making a beeline for the stairs. Strange. It didn’t sound like anyone Membrane knew. The voice was feminine and the only women her father knew were from his work and they wouldn’t have come to the property. Membrane made it clear that ML business would be conducted on ML property, not his personal estate. They would have called him for his assistance. 

Did Clembrane bring someone home again? No, he couldn’t have, Gaz thought to herself. Clembrane had passed out in the attached garage that he had turned into a makeshift bedroom after Dib was knocked unconscious. For the life of her, she didn’t know why the clone just didn’t use the bed instead of the hood of Membrane’s car to sleep on but it wasn’t her place to judge. He was just lucky Membrane didn’t have to go to work as often as he used to.

Gaz crept down to the living room and to the door of the kitchen where the voice was coming from. It was hushed and a bit worried sounding.

_ “... feels wrong. Anywhere I go, I feel like I’m being watched and followed. My assistants don’t seem to notice anything out of the ordinary. I think I’m going crazy. Ness has already scolded me for not having any form of protection since I live on my own. He’s pushing that I get a gun and has offered one that he can obtain at a moment’s notice. If this keeps up, I might take him up on his offer. I keep hearing things moving around in the storage area when I’m alone. I’m certain it is too big to be a rat but each time I go to investigate, I find nothing. I am very sure this place isn’t haunted. _

_ Oh, and when I tried to play the tape, I found that it was severely messed up. The elements have ravaged it to the point that there’s barely an image. Well, that’s not going to stop me. I’m going to try to transfer it to a digital format and see if there’s anything I can glean from it. I’m really hoping there’s something here or I’m going to be angry that we wasted a trip.” _

“Hm. Paranoia. And a tape? Is that what Dib was referring to?” Professor Membrane’s voice muttered as Gaz stood in the doorway to see her father hunched over at the table. He scribbled something on a pad of paper before picking up a small device off the table and fiddled with it. The voice continued on in another entry. This time, it was more sarcastic but cheerful.

_ “If world-renowned scientist Professor Membrane wants to play ‘spy’, he might want to dress more appropriately. That scythe of his can be seen from space and that lab coat lights up like a bloody crime scene under the blacklight we use for the presentations.  _

_ I noticed him during this evening’s lecture at the back of the auditorium on the second tier while I was answering some kid’s question about the possibility of life on other planets. When I glanced up at him, he stepped back behind one of the pillars as if to try to hide. He must’ve entered after I introduced myself and just before the lecture ended, I looked in his direction again and he was gone so I’m not sure how to take that.  _

_ He didn’t approach me, though I think this is the first time I’ve seen him here without his kids. None of my assistants made any attempt to notify me that he was there so I could appoint them as the speaker for that session and come down here until he left. Traitors. Wonder what he bribed them with if they knew. _

_ His appearance comes at a strange time, though. It feels like he knows what I’m doing but that’s impossible. I’ve kept this so far under wraps even I could forget what it is. If he does know, I wonder if it’s about those... other cells we found. The man’s a hardcore skeptic so it wouldn’t be about the-What? … … ... Hold on. I hear something moving in the storage area again. Aaaand the power just went out. Absolutely stellar. Thankfully this is battery powered. Ugh.” _

During the recording, Gaz watched as he picked up a small tape to look it over and started to write more. The girl narrowed her eyes at the man before crossing her arms and clearing her throat.

“What are you doing, Dad?”

With a yelp, the large man dove forward, grabbed the device with both hands, flicked it off then pulled it out of Gaz’s line of view. Left pocket, Gaz noted.

“Gaz! Sweetheart, what are you still doing up?” he chuckled nervously. Gaz narrowed her eyes at him before darting toward the writing pad and tape that was left behind, which prompted her father to swipe the items into his lap and bring his legs up onto the rod of the chair under him to try to hide them. Next, he leaned his elbow on the table and his temple on his wrist. It was meant to look ‘nonchalant’ but Professor Membrane was just like his son when he was caught red handed. Awkward and sweaty.

“You’re going through someone’s things.”

“No, I’m… doing research? Yes! I am doing research!” he cleared his throat.

“On?”

“Ah… Well…” Professor Membrane bolted up straight in his seat and patted the tabletop with his palms as if to find something plausible to tell her. “... potential… babysitter?”

Gaz narrowed her eyes harder at her father. Yeah. Right. Nor she or Dib had needed a babysitter since they were very small. Something was up but she knew if she pushed him, he wouldn’t give any information. She had to have evidence of his lie right in front of him before he caved.

“Oh, okay,” she shrugged, dropping the glare and moved toward the sink. “I couldn’t sleep.”

Membrane’s posture relaxed some out of the corner of her eye with a soft sigh.

“I’m sorry to hear that. Is there anything-?” he started as he twisted the other way to look at her. Gaz’s eyes dropped to the man’s left pocket and sure enough, nestled inside, was the device. Without a second thought, she dove for it before her father realized what had happened and moved to the other side of the room to look at it.

“What is this?” she turned to show it to him. The man stared at her before his left hand quickly moved to check his pocket. Gaz peered down as he tried to choke out something that was meant to be a string of words but nothing intelligible could be made from it. The device was slim and bit longer than a matchbox with a speaker on one end with two tiny microphones built into the corners. The small screen sat adjacent to the speaker and looked quite archaic compared to current day tech. It had definitely seen at least a decade with some wear and tear from usage but looked to be in acceptable shape. If Gaz had to guess, this was probably someone’s recorded journal.

Flipping the item over, she found some gold cursive text engraved into the back of it:  _ To PROFESSOR Zenith Elderidge. Proud of you! Love Dad. _ This made the item look as if it once were a graduation gift and the title was newly given.

Professor Membrane clearing his throat made Gaz turn a suspicious glare to him.

“Um… I need that back,” he meekly stated. 

“Babysitter? Really?” Gaz bluntly responded, causing the man to flinch. “Why do you even have this?”

“It was in Dib’s possession and I figured I would… well, find out who he had been around and-” Membrane tried to explain but he glanced away when Gaz cocked a brow.

“Go snooping to obtain the information you could get if you just talked to the person that owned this?”

Another flinch. 

“... To be fair, she is quite elusive… I had been trying to-”

Gaz gave a deep, disappointed sigh as she pinched the bridge of her nose and rubbed her eyes. The squeak her father made was the same one Dib would make when he’d receive ‘the sigh’. Nothing was worse than the disappointed sighs and looks in the eyes of the Membrane family.

“Dad. How do you expect to teach us, mainly Dib, not to go through others’ belongings if you don’t follow by example?” she chided in a deadpan tone. The man stared at her for a moment then bowed his head in defeat.

“Yes, yes, I know, there’s no excuse,” he muttered only to lift it to look at her. “But-!”

“No buts, Dad,” the girl crossed her arms. “Do you want a repeat of what Dib did to the Chinese ambassador when he thought the man was hiding a mogwai in his suitcase and it turned out to be a fuzzy robotic toy only found in our country that he planned on smuggling out?”

“... I still haven’t been able to look that man in the eye after all these years,” the scientist muttered under his breath. 

“Why are you doing this anyway? If she’s elusive, why not just leave her alone? She didn’t seem very interested in meeting with you according to that entry.”

Professor Membrane’s shoulder dropped.

“You heard that?” he groaned then gave a sigh. “Very well, I guess I couldn’t keep this hidden for much longer since I’ve been having issues contacting her and she now has contact with your brother means she will be around more often. The reason I am persistent to speak with Professor Elderidge is I’ve been-”

Before he could continue, a knock at the front door caused the man’s head to pique. 

“Oh! A visitor? At this hour?” 

Professor Membrane glanced at the clock as he pushed himself to his feet to answer the door, not before grabbing his mug of tea to bring with him. The rest of the items that were in his lap were swiftly stashed in his other pockets. Gaz raised a brow and leaned into view of the doorway when her father went to open it. If he had done this to Dib, the boy would have whined at him to focus on telling him what he was going to say. In truth, Gaz couldn’t care less about why Professor Membrane wanted to get in touch with this woman. It was most likely work-related and her father’s work bored her.

Upon opening the door, a figure who had their back facing Membrane whirled around and the voice from the recording device rang out in a soft tone. 

“Professor Membrane? Forgive me for coming so late. I didn’t wake you, did I?” 

“A-Ah, Professor Elderidge, is it?” Professor Membrane’s voice cracked when he glanced back at Gaz. Though most of his face was covered, Gaz could clearly see her father giving her a look asking her not to say anything about listening to the device. When you live with the man long enough, you’d find that even the slightest wrinkle of his cowl meant something.

“I’m… sorry, am I interrupting something?” the woman asked, looking between the father and daughter, making them realize the stare had gone on for long enough to make it awkward. Professor Membrane spun back around to meet her gaze before motioning back outside with his tea mug and moving to close the door behind him.

“O-Oh, no! Nothing at all! But, ah, I am glad you’re here. There are a couple of things I would like to talk with you about…”

Their voices became muffled and then distant, telling Gaz he was putting some ground between them and the house in fear of her revealing what he had done. The girl rolled her eyes. As if she’d go that far to embarrass her own father. 

Feeling wired and knowing someone was over, Gaz shuffled toward the couch where her old console had been sitting on the coffee table with two inches of dust on its casing. Reaching for it reminded her of the device still in her hand, which she tossed onto the hard surface of the table before snatching up her GS3 and plopped herself onto the soft couch cushion. 

Just as she began to settle in, the woman’s voice suddenly started up again, startling Gaz. Her eyes snapped to the recorder and narrowed with a grumble. It must’ve landed on the play button. She knew she should have gotten up to turn it off but the table was  _ sooooo _ far from where she was and she just got comfy. With a shrug, Gaz turned back to her game. Maybe if she let it play to the end and her father picked it up again later, granted if he didn’t give it back to the owner, it could make him believe that was the end of the entries. Thankfully, the voice wasn’t that annoying or she wouldn’t have been able to ignore it. It was like having the TV on while playing her handheld. 

Ignoring the voice worked for a short time before a shift in the woman’s tone on a new entry caught Gaz’s attention. It was low and panicked as if she were hiding somewhere. It was very reminiscent of what Dib had told Gaz to do if Zim ever got a hold of him. Gaz slowly lowered her game and stared at the small device in concern.

“ _ To anyone who finds this, please contact the Swollen Eyeball Network! Tell them to come to the Elderidge Observatory on behalf of Agent Eldritch Horror! Give them this recording device if you can! There is something here! I ran into it while entering the storage area to replace the fuse! It’s too dark to see what it is but from what I’ve gathered, it’s about my height, lanky, and humanoid!” _

Gaz sat up cautiously, her eyes still on the device. Was Zim up to something? No, Zim wasn’t as tall as the woman she saw at the door.

_ “I don’t think I can hide from it much longer, it seems to know my every move! Did we bring something back from that facility!? Did the transporter go on the fritz again and leak something into our world?! Oh god, I can hear it coming…” _

Quiet, labored breathing followed then a startled scream made the Membrane child jump with wide eyes. The voice tried to mask its fear by using a more vicious tone.

“ _ Get back! Now! Do not make me use this! I will shoot you!” _

The sharp noises of short laser beams cutting through the air made Gaz’s gaze harden. Given the context, anyone would have guessed it was a gun but the noise it made was a pretty big issue if you knew what to listen for. It was a unique sound, belonging to a one-of-a-kind design laser handgun, the ML-9000 Quasar, which was only manufactured by Membrane Labs and distributed exclusively to their employees. Anyone caught outside of the facility in possession of one without explicit permission was swiftly dealt with. Gaz didn’t know what the reprimands were but after escaping her father’s company during the whole pork tasting incident, she really didn’t want to know. Where did someone like this Elderidge person get a hold of that kind of technology? Gaz turned her head back toward the stairs. Did Dib give one to her? If so, how did he get a hold of one? Despite having knowledge of it, Gaz wasn’t even allowed to have one, let alone hold it. Membrane didn’t carry one since his arms doubled as protection.

A deep, inhuman cry made her jump again and scuffling sounds indicated a fight was occurring at that moment.

_ “GET OFF ME! GET OFF-” _

The voice was cut off by a loud, painful scream then a gagging noise and a louder ‘THWUMP’ followed. Something hit the floor hard. Gaz sat there, surprisingly stunned at what she just heard. It reminded her of some game mechanics where it called back to another time when corny radio horror stories were popular. Any moment now, she was expecting a radio host to come on and conclude a fictional story. That… wasn’t exactly what happened. The silence continued for a short time before a shuffling could be heard and the device crackled again.

_ “This is Professor Zenith Elderidge, an astronomer, and owner of the Elderidge Observatory. I also go by Agent Eldritch Horror within the Swollen Eyeball Network, S.E.N. for short, but Eldritch is fine.” _

The new voice was strange at first, softer and more menacing sounding than the original but it repeated the phrase over and over again until it matched the original. When it became more genuine sounding, the voice chuckled. It was enough to send chills up Gaz’s spine. Rarely anything did that.

_ “Perfect. Phase 1 complete. Spoot. Don’t eat her. I’ve prepared a vat to preserve her in the storage facility. We’ll put her there for the time being. No, don’t pout. We may still need her. All bases need to be covered for phase 2. The male earthen smeet, or ‘boy’ as humans say.” _

It felt like it took a while for Gaz’s mind to process what just happened. She didn’t know whether to believe that this was some sort of prank or what, but the mention of the Swollen Eyeball Network and the ‘boy’ was beginning to worry her. It had to be a reference to Dib. As if that wasn’t enough, something shattering outside reminded her that her father was outside with this ‘Professor Elderidge’ imposter.

Without a beat, Gaz raced for the door and flung it open just in time to see a sleek black sports car peel out from in front of the house and take off down the street. In a matter of moments, it disappeared into the dark as the girl reached the sidewalk, nearly stepping on the shattered remains of her father’s tea mug that littered the concrete. She would have cut her bare feet on them if it weren’t for the streetlamp above illuminating the white shards with a haunting glow against the dark ground. 

For once in Gaz’s life, a fear-filled her that she had never felt before. This wasn’t Zim being his stupid self. She was very comfortable with brushing off, even when Zim sent their father to Moo-Ping 10. No. This was something unknown to her and it made her sick to her stomach. Her hands clutched at her magenta hair with her growing terrified expression on the shards at her feet. What was that thing going to do to her dad?! A growl rose in her throat and she threw her head back in a desperate roar.

“DIB! CLEMBRANE!”

* * *

The black sports car sped down the road with such precision that it came millimeters away from other cars when passing without damaging a thing.

“Of all the irresponsible- reckless- UGH! I mean- How can the control brains even think of allowing those two idiots to be Tallests?! Ooooh, Miyuki must be rolling in her grave- or wherever her remains are!” Roan ranted before side-eying the man she just abducted. Professor Membrane sat there in a trance, staring forward with his arms slumped at his sides and his frame rocking with each turn of the wheel. “This is just absolutely stupid!”

“Stupid… Rolling in her grave...” he groaned. Roan paused before rolling her eyes.

“Ugh, you don’t even know what I’m talking about.”

This was the second time she used the mind-altering power on him and it was very apparent that it was not as strong on him as it was with others. He shouldn’t have been able to talk or move without her commanding him to. The first time she did it, he should have just stood there when Dib rushed up to meet her before they went after Zim until she told him to leave. Instead, t

the man just acted drunk and stumbled back into his domicile. Guess it seemed more in character for him since the boy didn’t question it. Professor Membrane was too intelligent for the power to be 100% effective. She expected this weak effectiveness out of a lower-tiered soldier who had not trained it properly, not an elite commander. His brain should have been half mush at that point if not more if he were any less intelligent.

“Maybe I’m losing my touch,” she brought her robotic hand to her chin in thought. She had been there for a long time, after all. It wouldn’t be too far-fetched to believe she had grown soft and out of practice- Roan shook her head hard to clear that thought. “No, there’s nothing wrong with me. You’re just too smart for your own good.”

A quick glance at the man bore witness to Membrane slumping to the side where his head collided into the window due to a quick turn of the wheel. This caused him to sit up quickly only to slump down, slurring his words.

“I'mmmm ok.”

“Glad to hear,” Roan grimaced. “Better make this quick. The last thing I need is you shaking that off and getting in my way.”

Her face fell in realization as she slowly turned her head to the man. The initial plan was mainly going to use him to get into his labs to gain access to his resources and such where she would do the rest. She would then proceed to discard him down an elevator shaft or in some other manner that would keep anyone from finding him too soon. His large frame being slumped out in the open could be an issue otherwise. However, if he were able to take orders and do the work for her using his vast intellect...

Roan squinted at him hard.

“If I gave you schematics for a real-time, intergalactic matter transporter, would you be able to follow them down to the letter?” she asked carefully. He had already proven he could do things on his own under this trance. Might as well see how far it could go before he came to. Membrane stared forward a moment then nodded.

“Yeah… Not hard…” he answered, turning his head to her only for his body to lurch forward again but the seatbelt caught him and bounced him back into a proper sitting position. Roan smirked uncontrollably. What was the point of kidnapping one of the most intelligent beings in the universe if she couldn’t use him to her advantage? Besides getting into the Membrane Labs building, of course. She’d have to test how complex he could get while under mind alteration first, of course, but it was the next best thing to having a Vort or Irken scientist at her disposal. Anything he couldn’t do, she could probably make up for.

“Perfect! Since you seem capable enough at the moment, you’re going to get me into Membrane Labs and we are going to put together something so powerful, it could take down an entire armada without fail.”

Membrane only nodded as she spoke. 

“It has to be the entire armada. I can’t risk any survivors to tell the control brains what happened. Sure, it may take decades for it to be rebuilt, but it’s better than having THOSE TWO as leaders…” Roan tapped her chin in thought. “That means Zim will have to be dealt with sooner or later. Can’t underestimate him despite being a-” For this part, Roan leaned out of her window to scream. “COMPLETE AND UTTER FAILURE!”

Upon turning a corner to enter the city, Roan pulled herself back into the car just in time to slam on the brakes to avoid colliding into the back end of a parked car. She quickly swung an arm out across her passenger’s chest to stop Membrane from kissing the dashboard during the violent jerk. He didn’t brace for the impact as one would if they saw it coming and his weight caused Roan’s robotic arm to creak.

“What the-!?” Roan growled as she parked her car and pushed herself out of the window just enough to see what was going on. The car was only one of the dozens on the road but there were no drivers. All of them were parked. “What is going on?!”

A couple of guys walking past caught her attention and she pointed at one of them.

“You! Walking pile of disease! What is the meaning of this?!”

The guys glanced at each other then back at her with a snicker.

“Uh, duh. It’s the weenie parade.”

“Weenie parade?” Roan dropped her arm on the roof of the car in disbelief. “It’s two in the morning!”

“Jeeze, where have you been? It’s the Delicious Weenie 20th anniversary parade,” the second man shrugged. “The entire city is blocked off for it for the whole day! The festivities are just getting started!”

Roan sat there on the car door, her eye twitching as she watched the men walk off.

“Of all the-!” she started in rage but paused and put her hands up to try to calm herself down. “Okay, it’s fine! It’s fine. Don’t blow up. There’s plenty of time. The Armada isn’t going anywhere… It’s just floating around a deadly Florpus hole, they’ll still be there decades from now.”

She then began to force the rest of herself out of the vehicle’s window only to fall onto the concrete in a spindly mess of limbs while fighting with the seatbelt she forgot to undo and uttering a mass barrage of insults to anyone who walked by her and to the planet itself. 

Once the seatbelt was vanquished, i.e. shredded to bits, the disguised Irken commander stood erect with a look of disdain, stormed around the car, tore open the passenger side door, and reached inside to undo Membrane’s seatbelt to pull the large man out.

“Okay, a slight detour,” she grunted as she got him to his feet then huffed. “Lead me to Membrane Labs on foot and then we’ll continue with the rest upon arrival. Understand?”

“Yes.”

“Good. Let’s go.”

* * *

It didn’t take long to get into the heart of the festivities. Make-shift stands filled to the brim with various trinkets, bobbles, and whatnot stretched as far as the eye could see. Children rushed around, screaming like farm animals about to be slaughtered after they received a helium sack on a string or what Roan could only guess was meant to be food. A glance at some of the stalls revealed offerings of the most ungodly combination of edibles one could imagine that could definitely or should have ended their life with one bite. The stench pouring from these death-on-a-stick establishments mixing with the stink of so many humans packed together didn’t help the mood or sights either. Other setups offered merchandise where one could witness parade-goers forcing their various, jiggly forms into over-priced t-shirts and jackets sporting weenies that were many sizes too small. Roan had to wonder how this species even made it this long without wiping themselves out with their own vices. Then again, she could wonder the same about those currently in charge of the Massive. This all could be summed up in one word: Disgusting.

Despite all of that, at least Membrane did exactly as he was told and pushed through the large crowds with Roan behind him. However, there was one slight oversight of the detour through the city on foot that Roan had not considered. Granted, it wasn’t blatantly obvious at first as most of those around them seemed more interested in their activities and devices but when one glanced up, they had no problem alerting others like a horde of zombies to the fact Professor Membrane was among them. Fans started to crowd him, only annoying the disguised alien further, who had been viciously ranting under her breath about the whole situation.

“Sorry! No autographs! Move away, please!” she yelled over the crowd, and Membrane started to repeat it while continuing to push through. Some of the fans did as they were asked but the ones who were just made aware of Membrane’s presence continued to bombard the man. Roan bit back a fit of rage and the urge to start swinging at the rude life forms around her as she tried to keep up with the man without touching him but the crowd made it difficult. If anything, it made her long for the weapons she used to carry that would have been ideal for wiping out and leveling massive areas, disintegrating any living being within a twelve-mile radius. At least it would have given her some breathing space.

While trying to focus on keeping as far away from the foul-smelling parade-goers, Roan’s foot caught a raised section of the sidewalk which caused her to stumble forward. A slew of alien curse words that would’ve made a Hobo Sargeant blush came out of her mouth as she braced herself for impact with the concrete. Instead, her robotic hand collided with something. It was quickly snatched and jerked upward before she could even touch the ground. The fall was such a blur that she didn’t know what had happened but noticed the crowd around her fell silent.

With a heavy gasp, everyone jumped back three feet on all sides, revealing Membrane holding out an arm which kept Roan suspended, his hand in hers. Roan’s eyes darted about the crowd in confusion. A sense of dread fell over her as she noted the expressions of shock and horror on those around them. Did she do something wrong? Was falling suddenly illegal or did she violate some long-held tradition that she failed to acknowledge? Was this going to end up in her having to slaughter everyone who saw her fall? Sweat began to pour from her brow as her free hand slowly reached back where her pak would have been if Spoot wasn’t disguising it with the ponytail. That was another thing. Did Spoot get lazy or forget to cover something and Roan was somehow exposed? This was something she had always feared about being out among hordes of humans.

“What? W-What are you gawking at?”

The silence felt like it went on forever to the Irken before a woman in the crowd shrieked.

“NOOOO!” she wailed dramatically, covering her face and running off while sobbing. Roan stared after her while fixing her posture then looked down in confusion at the union of her and Membrane’s hand. When she glanced back up, three or more people zipped up to her, leering at her with intense gazes.

“Are you Professor Membrane’s girlfriend?!” one demanded.

“His fiancée?!”

“Are you two a thing?!”

“Who are you?”

“If you’re not, why are you holding his hand?!”

Roan shrank back from the questioning, even more confused than before while stepping behind Membrane some and looking at them from over his shoulder with concern. What was this? What were they talking about?

“Uhhhhh…”

“Move away, please,” Membrane put his free hand up and pushed passed the three while pulling Roan along. A path miraculously opened up for Membrane with onlookers staring at the two in shock. Murmuring caught Roan’s attention as Membrane walked on and she realized they were looking more at her than Membrane.

“Must be someone important. He almost never touches anyone.” “Girlfriend or fiancée?” “My money’s on ‘fiancée’.” “Yeah, he probably doesn’t have time to date.” were just some of the things she caught. 

“Fee-ann-say?” she muttered slowly while raising a brow. That was some sort of human affection term, yes? A companion? It would be a good cover when she had to go into some more restricted areas within Membrane Labs. When Membrane passed an alleyway, Roan paused and pulled the zombified-man aside. “Okay, if anyone asks you who I am, I am your “fee-ann-say”. Got it?”

Roan used air quotes for the word and Membrane nodded.

“Who am I?”

“You are my fiancée.”

“Good. Now keep going. I don’t like it out here with all this stench and… inflated meats,” she grumbled, turning a furrowed gaze to a giant weenie balloon that began its trek overhead.

Gingerly taking Membrane’s hand again, she stepped out onto the street and looked around. The people who had been staring at them had gone back to the festivities. As she opened her mouth to say something, she felt Membrane’s hand tug her in the direction they were originally heading, nearly pulling her off her feet. Roan quickly regained her composure while side-eyeing everyone around her and caught up to the man. When no one was in front of him, Membrane didn’t walk. He strode. Roan had to be thankful for the good two-and-a-half feet she had grown while she was on this miserable planet or she would not have been able to keep up. 

During the trek, she began to take notice of the other couples around them.

“I guess I should make this look as believable as possible,” she muttered under her breath, glancing down at her hand in Membrane’s. It was then she found herself very grateful for the symbiote that encased her body. If it were just a normal, flesh-colored glove, she was sure the man would have felt her robotic hand underneath it if they were still holding hands when he came to. It didn’t dawn on her that other humans had prosthetics as well. Roan shook her head and snapped herself to attention. Focus.

Couples were everywhere doing various things at different levels of affection. Some were simply holding hands and, upon closer inspection, they had their fingers entwined. Roan shifted her hand accordingly, slipping her fingers between Membrane’s. Okay, good, she thought to herself. That was a bit more convincing, right? Next? 

A couple walked past close by where the female was hugging the male’s arm with her free arm as she spoke with him excitedly in addition to holding his hand with the other. Roan followed suit, moving closer to Membrane and hugging his arm as the female did. Her eyes scanned the crowd once more, seeing some more… direct displays of PDA that made her shudder in disgust. Between smashing their mouths together sloppily, sharing drinks and food, and carrying one another in various ways which assaulted her eyes, Roan figured what she was doing was enough to get it across to the humans around her that she was ‘with’ Membrane. It just had to last long enough to get to where they were going. 

With a grumble, she side-glanced the man who continued to push forward. Now that she was close enough, she started to notice details about him. One, very obvious detail stood out besides the fact that he hid his face behind a cowl and blue goggles with a very prominent… hairstyle? He was very… tall, at least a head taller than her and clearly taller than most around them. Why it struck a chord with her now, Roan couldn’t say. Then again, coming from a species where the leadership mostly hinged on one’s height could have had something to do with it.

She forced herself to look away once making the note of his height but something nagged at her to look back. Something else was there and her mind was screaming at her to look again. Rolling her red eyes, she glanced back up at the man, trying her best to be nonchalant about it but when her gaze settled on him, something changed. Professor Membrane was now looking directly down at her, however, a glint coming off of his goggles made her see something- or someone- else. 

For a moment, the sky above turned a deep, violent pink with various Irken vehicles zipping about. The crowds disappeared, leaving a tranquil alien garden filled with some of the rarest plant life obtained from harvesting other worlds. Though none of it made any sense, Roan didn’t question it. It felt like home.

A playful smile spread across the pale green face of the tall, slender being that now replaced the bulkier human scientist. Tallest Miyuki said nothing but her sparkling azure eyes spoke for her instead, gazing deeply into Roan’s as the two continued to walk at the same pace. Though she was smiling, her gaze spoke of a longing that was never quenched. It took Roan a moment to gather herself and realize the position she was in but her leader didn’t seem all that interested in pulling away.

“My Tallest, I…” the commander tried to start but Miyuki only shook her head which silenced her and Roan felt the hand she was holding tighten some. Something flipped in Roan’s chest and, returning Miyuki’s smile, she leaned her head against the Tallest’s shoulder and hugged the arm closer to her with a nuzzle and a content sigh. She felt as if she could stay there for the rest of her life…

Too bad life is a perpetual crotch shot with a bowling ball.

A sudden flash of light forced Roan’s eyes to snap open and pulled her back full force into reality. A handful of people started yelling for her to ‘look their way’ and more flashes followed, blinding her. Her red eyes dilated, accompanied by a painful grunt and an eyelid flicker as she tried to regain her sight. Questions followed, intrusive and highly inappropriate ones directed to the owner of the arm she was now cuddling, mainly asking about her and his relationship with her. Neither she nor Professor Membrane had stopped walking and these new pests were adamant on following them.

“ENOUGH! STOP!” Roan finally bellowed when one of the pests shoved a camera in her face and another flash blinded her. “GAH!”

As her vision cleared for the second time, a hand in a black rubber glove reached out in front of her to push the camera away and the one she was holding onto pulled away only to hook around her waist. Roan could feel her pace quickening forcibly and she felt herself being whisked into a nearby building with the sound of a door slamming shut and locked behind her. 

“What the hell was that?!” she growled under her breath as she shook her head clear. The persons responsible for the evasive action continued to holler on the other side of the glass but soon departed when they were not going to be let in. “No matter. We need to-”

Glancing up mid-sentence, Roan found herself at the entrance of a massive white lobby room lit up with vibrant LED lighting. On the far wall was a large, dark blue sign reading “Membrane Labs” situated across an image of the Earth that hung over an empty reception area.

“Oh, we’re here…”

Footsteps echoed off the walls as Professor Membrane walked past her, grabbed her hand again, and headed toward an elevator to the left which prompted Roan to follow. 

“This way,” he slurred some. Roan only nodded, her eyes scanning the room. The stillness of the room as they waited in silence for the elevator put her on edge. The atmosphere alone almost felt as if there was an ambush waiting for them upstairs. It also gave her time to reflect on the daydream she experienced earlier. She did her best not to hide her face in shame for thinking of her, now deceased leader that way. Actually, was it more shameful now that Tallest Miyuki was gone or…? The sound of the elevator car arriving made Roan shake the thought out of her head and she moved to board it with the man.

“Let’s just get to the lab. I’ve wasted enough time,” she glanced away in self-disgust. While in doing so, she failed to notice a key factor in her plan slipping through the cracks. Professor Membrane raised his free hand and rubbed his head while looking around in confusion. He glanced down the union of his left hand with Roan’s right and followed her arm up to her face with a furrowed brow. 

“Ah… Okay…?”


End file.
